Interviews
“We are here so that unarmed truth has the final word” – speech at Julian Assange London rally 22-2-2020
, 23/02/2020
Leaking the Guilty Secrets of Power is not a Phrase, it is a Sentence. And no one is facing a longer one today than JA. Julian has GAINED the right to quote another past prisoner, another enemy of Empire, Mahatma Ghandi. Like Ghandi Julian could say: “You can chain me, you can torture me, you […]
This Saturday we demonstrate in London against Julian’s deportation and in support of your right to know
, 20/02/2020
Where: Australia House, London | When: This Saturday at 11.30 | Why: Marching to Parliament Square to defend your right to know by protesting Julian Assange’s extradition to the United States Parliament Square Speakers (13:30 15:30) Roger Waters Yanis Varoufakis Chrissie Hynde Brian Eno M.I.A. Lowkey Kristinn Hrafnsson – editor in chief of WikiLeaks Vivienne […]
Yanis Varoufakis and Brian Eno on Money, Power and a Call for Radical Change – video
, 17/02/2020
In November 2019, Intelligence Squared brought to its stage Brian and myself to discuss money, power and the prospects of a form of radical change that makes the world a better place for the many. Quick reminder: Brian and I are amongst the co-founders of DiEM25 – the Democracy in Europe Movement whose campaigns and […]
Euroleaks: Why release? And why now?
, 16/02/2020
During 2015’s first half, as Greece’s finance minister, I participated in thirteen crucial Eurogroup meetings – before the SYRIZA government (disrespecting the referendum result of 5th July) capitulated. The result of that capitulation was my immediate resignation and a permanent austerity program (until… 2060). From the beginning, the first Eurogroup, it was clear that the […]
Dann wäre morgen die Revolution – KONTEXT Wochenzeitung
, 09/02/2020
Unter Meteorologen braucht es keine Meinungsvielfalt – so lange die etablierten Methoden fundierte Prognosen liefern. In den Wirtschaftswissenschaften, wo die Vorhersagen “allenfalls per Unfall” richtig lägen, sei das anders, meint der Ökonom und DiEM25-Initiator Yanis Varoufakis. Wenn die herrschende Lehrmeinung die Realität nicht mehr treffend beschreiben kann, brauche es alternative Blickwinkel. Der Einladung der studentischen Inititiative “Rethinking […]
From an Economics-without-Capitalism to Markets-without-Capitalism – University of Tübingen (video available)
, 04/02/2020
A lecture organised by University of Tübingen economics students, delivered on Monday 3rd February 2020 on the theme From an Economics-without-Capitalism to Markets-without-Capitalism. Mainstream economic models lack some important features of really-existing capitalism, including money, time and space. Its models offer ideological cover for a capitalist system that has usurped competitive, free markets. The result? […]
Should liberal capitalism be saved? Martin Wolf & Yanis Varoufakis debating live
, 09/01/2020
Is capitalism past its due date? Can we even imagine a world without it? On 14th November 2019 Martin Wolf and Yanis Varoufakis debated the question ‘Should liberal capitalism be saved?’. Hosted on November 14, 2019 by the Financial Times to celebrate the Wincott Foundation’s 50th Anniversary, this special live event took the place of […]
Reflections on 2019 – my foreword in THE GUARDIAN BEDSIDE 2019
, 25/12/2019
Every year for nearly 70 years, the Guardian has collected the best of its journalism into a book – the BEDSIDE GUARDIAN. This year, Bedside Guardian 2019 is edited by Aditya Chakrabortty with Paul Johnson, deputy editor, alongside Jonathan Freedland, Zoe Williams Emma Graham-Harrison. The editors were kind enough to ask me to write the Foreword. As it reflects my […]
Paul Laverty’s & Ken Loach’s haunting & elegiac film: Why Labour must win this Thursday
, 10/12/2019
There is a fork in the road. A mighty choice is coming. We can have a plan. An imperfect plan maybe. But one for the planet, not the corporations. For the many, not the few. A plan for the ‘we’, not the ‘I’.
DiEM25 2.0 – Prague Address
, 10/12/2019
On the next phase of Europe’s transnational progressive movement PRAGUE ADDRESS, 22nd November 2019 We come from all over Europe. From across borders, party lines and with different views of the good society. We are united by these differences. Europe will be democratised. Or it will disintegrate. This is not a scare tactic. It is […]
Is capitalism past its expiry date? Munk Debate (K, Vanden Heuvel & Y. Varoufakis vs A. Brooks & D. Brooks)
, 08/12/2019
The capitalist system is broken. It’s time to try something different. For my 3 minute conclusion of this debate, jump to 1 hour 59 minutes There is a growing belief in western societies that the current capitalist system no longer works for average people. Economic inequality is rampant. Life expectancy is falling. The environment is […]
Labour’s 2019 Manifesto: My assessment on BBC Radio 5, 21 NOV 2019
, 22/11/2019
As an economist, Labour’s 2019 Manifesto strikes me as a sensible, moderate and well-targeted program in view of Britain’s needs and capacities. Independently of what one thinks of Corbyn and McDonnell (Nb. my friendship and comradeship with both is well known), most people agree that: Exceptional investment in the green transition and technologies, possibly of a […]
Why is economics not a force for good and what must we do to make it so? Cambridge 8th NOV 2019
, 22/11/2019
On 8th November, at the invitation of Professor Antara Haldar of Cambridge University, I presented this talk in the context of a fascinating group of academics who gathered in the Cambridge Union’s upstairs seminar room to revive Keynes’ original idea of the Cambridge Circus – a radical circle of economists seeking the kind of economics that […]
Sophisticated Heretic – Interview with the Cambridge Union magazine TCS
, 22/11/2019
Yanis Varoufakis has been adamant that he is not a politician. He might be an economist, though his conversation with Margaret Levi – a Stanford political scientist – at the Cambridge Union last Thursday evening on 7th November 2019 smashed the academic boundary walls of economics in style. His critical principles come from his characteristic […]
“Should liberal capitalism be saved?”A debate between Martin Wolf & Yanis Varoufakis, Today, London, Wincott Foundation
, 14/11/2019
On November 14, 2019, The Wincott Foundation will host an evening debate at the Financial Times to celebrate its 50th Anniversary. This special event takes the place of the usual annual Harold Wincott Memorial Lecture. The Foundation was set up in honour of Harold Wincott, who was widely regarded as the finest economic journalist of […]
Quantitative Easing: Its rationale, impact and the future of the world economy – Audio of speech delivered at ICA 2019
, 12/11/2019
Hosted by Bahrain Financial Market Association, the two-day conference organized in cooperation with the Central Bank of Bahrain themed “Reshaping Finance in a Changing Economy”. The ICA hosted the Greek former Minister of Finance Professor Yanis Varoufakis at a panel discussion moderated by Dr. Jarmo T. Kotilaine the Chief Planning and Monitoring Officer of Tamkeen. Other […]
“Brexit, for all its ills, has reinvigorated British democracy” – Cambridge Union address, 8 NOV 2019
, 11/11/2019
Last Friday (8th November 2019), I delivered a Cambridge Union address on (what else?) Brexit. My opening message was: “Instead of moaning about the state of British institutions, rejoice! For all its many ills, Brexit has reinvigorated British democracy.” Unlike most continental European parliaments, the House of Commons remains at the heart of decision making and, […]
Capitalism, Democracy and Europe – Interviewed for the Great Transition Initiative
, 04/11/2019
As harsh austerity and xenophobic nationalism fester in Europe, Yanis Varoufakis discusses his antidote with Tellus Senior Fellow Allen White. What inspired your career trajectory from academic economist to prominent supranational activist? I went into politics because of the financial crisis of 2008. Had financial capitalism not imploded, I would have happily continued my quite […]
“El ‘establishment’ y la ultraderecha se necesitan” – El Mundo
, 21/10/2019
Costa Gavras adapta al cine su libro autobiográfico en la película ‘Comportarse como adultos’ que se estrena el viernes. Yanis Varoufakis es el autor del libro en el que se basa la última película de Costa-Gavras. SANTI COGOLLUDO Yanis Varoufakis (Falero, 1961) es de los pocos ex ministros de finanzas (con o sin moto) que puede […]
Caroline Lucas & Yanis Varoufakis search for what went wrong with democracy – THE BIG ISSUE
, 21/10/2019
The Green Party MP and the MeRA25 leader journey from democracy’s inception through the tumultuous Brexit period and through to the year 2035 There’s chaos on the streets of Westminster as the activists of Extinction Rebellion bring traffic to a standstill to highlight the urgency of action on the climate crisis. If the old democracy […]
Progressive Internationalism & why a Corbyn government is the only cure for a terrible Brexit – openDemocracy video interview
, 21/10/2019
At this year’s The World Transformed, we caught up with some of the key figures in the movement for a new economy and politics. In the grand finale of our exclusive series, Yanis Varoufakis speaks to ourEconomy about Brexit, the coming UK general election, a constitutional assembly for Britain, and his agenda of a new Bretton Woods, public […]
I just pulled out of a conference in Turkey in protest at the invasion of Northern Syria’s Kurdish region
, 11/10/2019
It is with profound regret, and after much reflection, that I am pulling out as a speaker at an interesting and worthy international conference organised by TRT World in Istanbul on 21st October. I do so in protest of the Turkish armed forces’ invasion of Northern Syria. The ongoing invasion is not only an assault […]
