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What is money, really? And why Bitcoin is not the answer (even if blockchain is brilliant & potentially helpful in democratising money)

, 02/08/2021

Recently, I argued that a central bank cryptocurrency can be a useful tool in the struggle to democratise money. Such a tool is, of course, not enough. The main task in democratising money is first to democratise the central bank – before deploying useful instruments like a central bank cryptocurrency. As many readers (correctly) pointed […]

What Comes After Capitalism? (VIDEO by Sustainable Human)

, 22/04/2020

Free market capitalism died over a 100 years ago and gave way to monopoly capitalism. Monopoly capitalism is now not even able to reproduce itself, let alone sustain the planet, common decency etc. But what comes next? Thanks to the good people at PATREON for putting imagery to my words. Support the creation of more […]

Utopian science fictions legitimising our current dystopia – 2019 Taylor Lecture, Oxford University

, 19/02/2019

The Faculty of Medieval and Modern Languages, Oxford University, kindly invited me to deliver the 2019 Taylor Lecture on 12th February 2019. I chose the topic of  Realistic Utopias versus Dystopic Realities – my aim being to highlight the manner in which really-existing capitalism is marketed as a utopian science fiction that has nothing to do with… really-existing capitalism. Behind this elegant utopian […]

At the Edinburgh Festival, in conversation with Jeremy Corbyn on reviving socialism, with Maria Alyokhina (Pussy Riot) on despotism, and with Shami Chakrabarti on liberty

, 08/01/2019

In 2018, the good people behind the Edinburgh Festival kindly invited me to host a series of discussions under the title KILLING DEMOCRACY? My remit was: Further to explore the question of whether the current form of financialised capitalism is devouring democracy, reflecting on my work with the Democracy in Europe Movement (DiEM25). In a series […]

Realistic Utopias versus Dystopic Realities – Oxford University, Taylor Lecture, 12/2/2019

, 22/12/2018

The Faculty of Medieval and Modern Languages, Oxford University, kindly invited me to deliver the 2019 Taylor Lecture on 12th February 2019. In my book was addressed to my daughter regarding the economy I tried to offer her a simple, though not simplistic, account on how capitalism works and how it fails. Critics, correctly, pointed out that the book’s […]

On The Jolly Swagmen podcast, discussing economics, the economy, politics, Europe & Greece

, 26/07/2018

Joe speaks with former Greek Finance Minister Yanis Varoufakis, the man who defied Europe to save Greece – and failed. Yanis, the suave economics professor turned unexpected politician, has recently announced he will run for Prime Minister of Greece at the next national elections. He is the author of multiple books including And The Weak Suffer […]

A letter to my daughter about the black magic of banking…

, 19/07/2018

As you grow up and experience more of the ups and downs of the economy, you will notice a piece of mindbending hypocrisy: during the good times, bankers, entrepreneurs—rich people in general—tend to be against government. They criticize it as a “brake on development,” a “parasite” feeding on the private sector through taxation, an “enemy […]

Live at ‘Politics and Prose’, Washington DC

, 03/06/2018

Yanis Varoufakis discusses his books, Adults in the Room and Talking to my Daughter About the Economy, at Politics and Prose on 10th May 2018 In his eye-opening memoir, Adults in the Room, Varoufakis, Greece’s former Finance Minister, recounts his frustrating struggle to resolve Greece’s debt crisis without resorting to austerity measures. His book give […]

New York Magazine – Interviewed by Felipe Ossa: “Yanis Varoufakis Has Some Ideas About How to Save the Future”

, 28/05/2018

Much of the world was introduced to Yanis Varoufakis in early 2015, when, as Greece’s bold new finance minister (he rode a Yamaha to work and tabloids touted his sex appeal), he led negotiations with the European Union, the European Central Bank, and the International Monetary Fund to restructure the country’s crushing load of government debt. […]

Does capitalism make us happy? On THINK AGAIN: A Big Think podcast – 26 MAY 2018

, 27/05/2018

Yanis Varoufakis – Happiness, Inc. – Think Again – a Big Think Podcast #149 Jason GOTS: As the Wu-Tang Clan once put it: “Cash moves everything around me… Get the money. Dollar dollar bill, y’all.” I grew up not wanting to believe this. All the stuff that seemed worth having was hard to put a […]

On YouTube’s ‘The Young Turks’ (TYT), interviewed by Nomi Konst on Capitalism, Democracy and Crisis – 21 MAY 2018

, 27/05/2018

Nomiki Konst (TYT Politics) interviews former Greek Finance Minister and Greek Member of Parliament Yanis Varoufakis. Get ‘Talking to My Daughter About the Economy: A Brief History of Capitalism’ here: http://a.co/eXqqRNt

At the New School, discussing ‘Capitalism and the Present Moment in History’ with Will Milberg – 7 MAY 2018

, 25/05/2018

On the day of this discussion/presentation, students and staff were occupying part of the New School as part  of a twin labour dispute: one regarding the cafeteria staff facing dismissal and partial re-employment under worse terns and a second dispute concerning low pay and lack of rights for student workers-TAs. It is in this context […]

On Trump’s tariffs and why we should never trust ‘economic experts’ – interviewed by Scott Gamm for TheStreet

, 19/05/2018

Click photo above or here for the video discussing Trump’s trade tariff strategy Click photo above or here for the video regarding the so-called ‘economic experts’    

On Iran Nuclear Deal Demise, US Trade Negotiations, Europe’s Far Right & Capitalism – TV interview with Amy Goodman on Democracy Now!

, 18/05/2018

Click the photo above or here  for Part 1:  Yanis Varoufakis on Lost U.S. Credibility in Middle East, from Iran Deal to Israel Embassy Move Part 2: Yanis Varoufakis on Iran Nuclear Deal Demise, US Trade Negotiations, Europe’s Far Right & Capitalism In the latest economic fallout from President Trump’s decision to pull the United […]

A Life in the Day – Sunday Times, 26th November 2017

, 07/12/2017

On the occasion of the publication of ‘Talking To My Daughter about the Economy: A brief history of capitalism‘, the Sunday Times published this interview, in the context of their series ‘A Day in the Life of…’ Apologies for the lifestyle-like style and content… Interview by Gabriel Pogrund Best advice I was given A statistics professor […]

My ‘Talking to My Daughter About the Economy: A brief history of capitalism” reviewed by Ireland’s finance minister

, 25/11/2017

It is not often that one’s book is reviewed by a sitting finance minister. But these are strange times. On 4th November Ireland’s finance minister Paschal Donohoe took the trouble to review my ‘Talking to My Daughter About the Economy: A brief history of capitalism” for The Irish Times. To my utter surprise, he had some […]

Long, personal interview with William Leith in The Guardian on ‘Talking to my Daughter About the Economy’

, 03/11/2017

Yanis Varoufakis is telling me about the birth of his daughter, Xenia. “What I felt was an immense weight of responsibility,” he says. “Absolutely blind love and the sense of focusing on one individual.” But the experience didn’t make him feel like a different person. “It didn’t change my internal constitution or the way I looked […]

Q&A in the New Statesman, on the occasion on the publication of ‘Talking to My Daughter About the Economy’

, 28/10/2017

Yanis Varoufakis Q&A: “My despondencies have become a source of energy” The economist talks “Stairway to Heaven”, game theory, and how to make good predictions. What’s your earliest memory? The first time I flew in a passenger plane. I must have been about four and I was very impressed and very scared by it. Who […]

‘Talking to my daughter about the economy’ – Book review in The Guardian by Anna Minton

, 28/10/2017

Not many authors write a book in nine days, and fewer still are likely to announce it in the prologue. Yanis Varoufakis has no qualms about doing so in this brief history of capitalism, structured around the device of talking to his daughter, Xenia, not long a teenager. It was first published a few years ago, when she […]

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