To read the interview pdf form, click here Click here for the Journal’s site.
Politics and Economics
Techno-Feudalism Is Taking Over – Project Syndicate op-ed
This is how capitalism ends: not with a revolutionary bang, but with an evolutionary whimper. Just as it displaced feudalism gradually, surreptitiously, until one day the bulk of human relations were market-based and feudalism was swept away, so capitalism today is being toppled by a new economic mode: techno-feudalism. This is a large claim that […]
Is Universal Basic Income a good idea? My debate with Daron Acemoglou on Pairagraph
Pairagragh hosts structured debates between pairs of scholars, politicians etc. taking opposing views on some issue. In this one, Daron Acemoglu and I are debating Universal Basic Income – Daron opposing it and I defending it. Enjoy! Daron Acemoglou’s opening salvo We need a better and stronger social safety net. We need ways of combating […]
Where is Global Capitalism Going? My discussion with Ammar Ali Jan on the occasion of the 1st Anniversary of the Progressive International
Honouring the one-year anniversary of the Progressive International, Council members Yanis Varoufakis and Ammar Ali Jan engage in a wide-ranging debate about the direction of global capitalism in a turbulent age of crisis, pandemic, and political unrest. Ammar Ali Jan is a historian and member of Haqooq-e-Khalq Movement in Pakistan. Yanis Varoufakis is Member of […]
Austerity’s hidden purpose – Project Syndicate/Katmandu Post
Back in the 1830s, Thomas Peel decided to migrate from England to the Swan River in Western Australia. A man of means, Peel took along, besides his family, ‘300 persons of the working class, men, women, and children,’ as well as ‘means of subsistence and production to the amount of £50,000.’ But soon after arrival, […]
8 Answers to 8 Questions on Economic Theory, Economic Policy, Humanity & Capitalism – interviewed for The Age of Economics
In this extensive interview, for the good people at The Age of Economics, I try to answer eight large questions ranging from “Why does economics matter?” and “What are the differences between economics and natural science or engineering?” to “Is capitalism a natural system, given human nature, for serving humanity’s purposes?”. 1. Why does economics […]
From the peculiar failure of economic theory to capitalism’s transition to technofeudalism: A discussion with Ilan Pappé
We met to discuss economic theory’s curious failures, how they relate to neoliberalist ideology, the manner in which the Crash of 2008 gave rise to the transition of capitalism to technofeudalism, and the prospects of international solidarity to give humanity a chance to escape both technofeudalism and the climate emergency. However, we spent the first […]
Debating the EU with Douglas Murray on UNHERD – video
“The EU has had a difficult pandemic. A slow procurement of vaccines, followed by a botched rollout, and blame-shifting by its leaders has drawn together critics from all politics stripes. Two of unlikely bedfellows from very different political traditions, Douglas Murray and Yanis Varoufakis, joined Freddie Sayers for a discussion about the bloc at an […]
Football Takes Capitalism Out of Bounds – Project Syndicate
Europe has discovered its moral Rubicon, the frontier beyond which commodification becomes intolerable. The line in the sand that Europeans refuse to cross, come what may, has just been drawn. We bowed to bankers who almost blew up capitalism, bailing them out at the expense of our weakest citizens. We turned a blind eye to […]
Listen now to the Communist Manifesto, including the new introduction of the latest Penguin edition
Penguin’s recent edition of the Communist Manifesto is now available on audio here and here. (Meanwhile, here is an extract of my introduction to the Manifesto – as it appeared in The Guardian. For a manifesto to succeed, it must speak to our hearts like a poem while infecting the mind with images and ideas […]
‘The Austerity Doctrine in the Time of Coronavirus’: Crucial Q&A on post-pandemic austerity with Brian Eno & Yanis Varoufakis plus special guests Stephanie Kelton & Naomi Klein
In the 3rd episode of Let’s Talk It Over regulars Brian Eno and Yanis Varoufakis welcomed very special guests Stephanie Kelton and Naomi Klein to discuss The Austerity Doctrine in the Time of Coronavirus. Here are some of the questions tackled in the program: Austerians for years told us that all hell would be unleashed on […]
A Covid-19 counterfactual for Europe – Project Syndicate
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 […]
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 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 […]