Imagine that the coronavirus pandemic, rather than undermining confidence in the European Union, had strengthened it. Imagine that Covid-19 had persuaded EU leaders to overcome years of acrimony and fragmentation. Imagine that it had catalysed the emergence this year of a stronger, more integrated bloc to which the world looked for global leadership. Imagine. It […]
Essays
Everything Must Change! DiEM-TV’s lockdown interviews now available as a book
As the pandemic placed capitalism in suspended animation, dividing us between the privileged who could afford to quarantine ourselves and those who risked life and limb keeping the world’s wheels turning, DiEM-TV went into action. Srecko Horvat and I began a series of livestreamed discussions with one aim in mind: to keep alive the hope […]
‘The Austerity Doctrine in the Time of Coronavirus’ – LET’S TALK IT OVER chat Brian Eno & Yanis Varoufakis hosting special guests Stephanie Kelton & Naomi Klein – 15th April, 19.00CET
For the 3rd episode of Let’s Talk It Over Frank Barat introduces LTIO regulars Brian Eno and Yanis Varoufakis who will, in turn, welcome very special guests Stephanie Kelton and Naomi Klein to discuss The Austerity Doctrine in the Time of Coronavirus. Has the pandemic ended the reign of austerity as policy and mindset? Or […]
Draghi’s outrageous deployment of McKinsey, Europe’s predicament, DiEM25’s proposals – La Stampa
Last week, upon hearing that Mario Draghi, as Italy’s new PM, employed McKinsey to advise the government on how to spend the billions of the EU Recovery Fund, I tweeted, in anger and frustration: So predictable, so sad: Mario Draghi hired McKinsey to ‘organise’ Italy’s distribution of the Recovery Fund monies. What next? Get the […]
The Goldilocks Stimulus Myth – Project Syndicate, The Kathmandu Post
Both supporters and critics of US President Joe Biden’s $1.9 trillion stimulus plan assume that there is a dollar amount that is just right. In fact, no such figure exists: every possible stimulus size is simultaneously too little and too big. ATHENS – US President Joe Biden, facing the great challenge of stimulating his country’s […]
Capitalism has become Technofeudalism | UpFront interview on Al Jazeera
A recent Oxfam study found that since the start of the coronavirus pandemic, the world’s richest 10 billionaires have seen a wealth increase of half a trillion dollars – enough to pay for every person on the planet to get a vaccine. In this UpFront special, Marc Lamont Hill discusses with economist and former Greek […]
The Consequences of Capitalism – Guest Lecture at the U of Arizona, 16th February 2021
Invited by Noam Chomsky and Marvin Waterstone, here is an audio of the lecture I delivered to University of Arizona students on ‘The Consequences of Capitalism”
Η ανοσία στη Δημοκρατία ως η ρίζα των αστοχιών της ΕΕ – The New Statesman
Το άρθρο πρωτοδημοσιεύτηκε στον New Statesman την 3η Φεβρουαρίου 2021 και παρουσάζεται εδώ σε μετάφραση της Ασπασίας Φεγγούλη. Προέκυψε από πρόσκληση του αρχισυντάκτη του New Statesman να σχολιάσω το εμβολιαστικό φιάσκο της ΕΕ . Από την άρνηση της πραγματικότητας στην απρόθυμη αποδοχή, από την απρόθυμη αποδοχή στις σημαντικές παρεμβάσεις και από κει στην πανωλεθρία: αυτή […]
The EU’s multiple failures are due to its immunity to democracy – The New Statesman
From denial, to grudging acceptance, to substantial intervention, to debacle: that was the European Union’s trajectory once the storm that nearly consumed Wall Street in 2008 had crossed the Atlantic, starting the euro crisis. Twelve years later, the EU’s reaction to Covid-19’s arrival is following an ominously comparable trajectory. Eurosceptics take aim at the EU’s […]
Speaking of antisemitism… – A personal view as related to my DiEM25 comrades (video + text)
On 4th February 2021, DiEM25’s coordinating collective held a discussion on how progressives can, at once, fight antisemitism and remain highly critical of Israel’s policies. You can watch a video of my speech and read an extended version of these thoughts below. Last week, while discussing competing identities, I argued that it is unacceptable to […]
Trumpism after Trump – NEWSWEEK magazine, interviewed by Basit Mahmood
He’s been described as the George Clooney of the government, a rockstar politician who took on the EU and an “erratic Marxist.” Few politicians can hope – or fear – to achieve the levels of notoriety Yanis Varoufakis did in just six months while serving as finance minister of Greece. A world-renowned economist, Varoufakis now […]
From an imagined hi-tech rebellion to the GameStop incident: Lessons for collective action in the 21st Century – Der Freitag
When in 2008 I heard that Lehman Brothers collapsed, and thousands of its staff were laid off, I allowed myself a fantasy. I imagined that one of the laid off financial engineers, whom for some reason I named Esmeralda, would turn into a dissident. That, incensed with the way she had been discarded by the […]
Η Αλήθεια Μετά τον Τραμπ – από την στήλη μου στο 24 | 7
Οι αντίπαλοι του Ντόναλντ Τραμπ τον αποκαλούν ψεύτη. Το πρόβλημα όμως είναι ότι ο Τραμπ είναι κάτι πολύ χειρότερο από ψεύτης. Ο Νίξον έλεγε ψέματα για να θάψει αλήθειες, το ίδιο κι ο Κλίντον και πολλοί άλλοι. Όχι, το πρόβλημα με τον Τραμπ είναι ότι μέσα σ’ ένα χείμαρρο ψεύδους που έβγαινε από το στόμα του που […]
Did we see yesterday something like ANOTHER NOW’s Crowdshorters in action ? You be the judge!
In my ANOTHER NOW I imagined a new type of resistance movement that uses the tools of finance to bring down capitalism and create a democratic market socialist economy in its stead. I called them CROWDSHORTERS. Yesterday, I received many messages suggesting that the CROWDSHORTERS are emerging for real, with the Reddit group that supported […]