Interviews
SHAKING THE SUPERFLUX: Shakespeare, economics, and the possibility of justice – 6th Annual Shakespeare Rose Lecture, 19th March 2018, Rose Theatre, Kingston
, 22/03/2018
Full script of my lecture at the Rose Theatre on Shakespeare: Since brevity is, indeed, the soul of wit, let me begin by stating the obvious: I am as qualified to deliver an annual Shakespeare lecture in this splendid theatre as an ant that walks in wonder on an iPhone is able to explain the mystery […]
The Guardian previews my Annual Shakespeare Lecture, tonight (19 March 2018) at the Rose Theatre
, 19/03/2018
Mark Lawson, in today’s Guardian, previews my Annual Shakespeare Rose Lecture, ahead of tonight’s delivery. He begins with its title ‘Shake the Superflux’ and the statement: ‘The beauty of King Lear is that it encourages us to think about inequality’. Is Theresa May Macbeth? Might King Lear agree with Jeremy Corbyn? On Monday night, one of Europe’s leading […]
Trump and trade tariffs: big lies founded on small truths – The Guardian, 18 MAR 2018
, 18/03/2018
Donald Trump is perhaps the US president best equipped to understand that some rise by sin, and some by virtue fall. His personal business plan always involved racking up enormous deficits and debts, before finding a way to unload them on to others – his employees and creditors mostly. Last week the US president imposed tariffs […]
‘Shake the Superflux’: Yanis Varoufakis to deliver the 6th Annual Rose Shakespeare Lecture, Monday 19th March 2018
, 18/03/2018
Yanis Varoufakis has emerged not only as an embattled finance minister, iconoclastic economist, and co-founder of the Democracy in Europe Movement (DiEM25), but a life-long lover of Shakespeare. He called the Greek debt crisis ‘a Shakespearean tragedy’, reported that observing the European Union is ‘like watching Othello’, and compared the world’s Deep Establishment to Shylock and Macbeth. Those […]
LA STAMPA interview on the Italian election result (the original answers in English) – 9 MAR 2018
, 09/03/2018
In this interview LA STAMPA sought my views on the outcome of the Italian elections. My original answers (in English) appear below. The gist? Italy’s election result is yet another example of the political centre’s implosion as a result of the establishment’s perseverance with failed, austerity-based policies, pretending that they were the solution to our […]
LE PARISIEN – Varoufakis : «Macron est excellent sur la forme, mais décevant sur le fond»
, 17/02/2018
L’ex-ministre grec des Finances veut lutter contre la pauvreté de façon «concertée» en Europe. L’ancien ministre grec des Finances, Yanis Varoufakis, fait le tour de l’Europe à la recherche d’alliés pour proposer un programme de gauche aux élections européennes de 2019. Vous voulez avoir des listes avec un label commun dans tous les pays pour les élections […]
Did the judge who refused to withdraw Julian Assange’s arrest warrant labour under a gigantic conflict of interest?
, 15/02/2018
“I find arrest is a proportionate response.” That was the judgement delivered in court last Tuesday by Judge Emma Arbuthnot, presiding over the case brought to court by Julian Assange’s lawyers. Their argument had been that the warrant for his arrest ought to be withdrawn because arresting him (after the extradition request from Sweden had […]
And the name of DiEM25’s Greek political party is…
, 14/02/2018
We have white smoke! DiEM25’s members overwhelmingly approved the name of our new Greek electoral wing – the political party with which DiEM25 will contest elections in Greece, returning the spirit of the Greek Spring to the place of its birth. As with all major DiEM25 decisions, members voted from across Europe, confirming once again […]
Support constructive, responsible, realistic disobedience in Greece. Support DiEM25’s new political party in Greece
, 12/02/2018
For two years now, DiEM25 has been preserving the spirit of the Greek Spring of 2015 across Europe. Now, as we are preparing to present our progressive program to Europeans across the Union, via the ballot box, the time has come to found the Greek DiEM25 affiliate political party that will return the spirit of […]
The good and the ugly interpretations of the recent stock exchange route in less than four minutes (audio)
, 10/02/2018
This is an extract from a speech at the ‘Alternative Investment Forum’ on 9th February 2018.
Συνέντευξη εφ’ όλης της ύλης στην Αγλαΐα Κυρίτση & στον Μιχάλη Σιάχο, για το asfalistiko.gr
, 01/02/2018
Ρεβανσισμός με πολλές στοχεύσεις Η συνέντευξη ξεκίνησε με αναφορά στο τελευταίο πολυνομοσχέδιο που ψηφίστηκε από τη Βουλή με τα προαπαιτούμενα της τρίτης αξιολόγησης. «Αυτού του είδους τα νομοσχέδια», σημειώνει ο Γιάνης Βαρουφάκης, «δεν έχουν καμία σχέση ούτε με τη δυνατότητα της ελληνικής οικονομίας να αποπληρώσει τα χρέη στους δανειστές, ούτε με κάποιας μορφής οικονομικό ορθολογισμό. […]
The Magnificent Oomph: Aiming for Norway Plus to secure a progressive Brexit – transcript of speech
, 31/01/2018
Courtesy of opendemocracy.net, here is the transcript of my speech of 29th January at the House of Commons. The theme? How should Jeremy Corbyn’s Labour Party secure a progressive Brexit consistent with a socialist agenda for the UK but also with DiEM25’s campaign to democratise Europe. The main reason I am here, I believe – […]
Arguing for a Norway Plus Brexit from the perspective of a committed Corbyn supporter – Audio of address at the House of Commons, 29 JAN 2018
, 30/01/2018
Delivered in front of an audience of Labour MP and staffers, at the kind invitation of Chuka Ummuna MP.
Bloody Sunday, Brexit & The Democratic Process – Audio of speech, Derry, 26th January 2018
, 27/01/2018
In what was a tremendous honour, the Bloody Sunday March organising committee invited me to Derry’s Guildhall to deliver the annual memorial lecture highlighting the legacy of Bloody Sunday and linking it with Brexit and DiEM25’s pan-European campaign for democracy and shared prosperity. An audio of my talk is now available here. Afterwards, I was treated […]
Bloody Sunday, Brexit & The Democratic Process: Public lecture, followed by ‘In conversation with Bernadette McAliskey’ – Derry, 26th January 2018, 7.30pm
, 15/01/2018
Why ‘Bloody Sunday, Brexit & The Democratic Process’ ? Much like many other parts of the world at that time, the North of Ireland was undergoing a process of profound political change in the early 1970’s. By the time January 1972 came around the Northern Ireland Civil Rights Association (NICRA) had already been holding peaceful protests […]
“La crisis se está haciendo más profunda, más tóxica, más permanente” (“The crisis is getting deeper, more toxic, more permanent”) – El Diario interview, 13/1/2018 (including the original English text of the interview)
, 15/01/2018
“Europa es exactamente lo opuesto a democracia”, asegura el ex ministro griego de Finanzas y cofundador de DIEM25, que ajusta cuentas con los protagonistas de la crisis del euro en “Comportarse como adultos“ “El Gobierno español actuó firmemente en Bruselas contra los intereses de la inmensa mayoría de los españoles” “El bitcoin es una espléndida burbuja […]
Internationalism vs Globalisation – op-ed in The Globe & Mail, published as “Globalization is stuck in a trap. What will it be when it breaks free?” – 12 JAN 2018
, 14/01/2018
Back in 1991, a left-wing friend expressed his frustration that “really existing socialism” was crumbling, with exaltations of how it had propelled the Soviet Union from the plough to Sputnik in a decade. I remember replying, under his pained and disapproving gaze: “So, what? No unsustainable system can be, ultimately, sustained.” Now that globalization is also […]
Varoufakis: “No se engañen, la crisis sigue ahí: el euro corre peligro” – El Pais, 2/1/2018
, 02/01/2018
El exministro de Finanzas griego ha publicado un libro sobre las entretelas de la política europea Yanis Varoufakis, exministro de Finanzas de Grecia. Barcelona, 9 de noviembre de 2017 ALBERT GARCIA Polémico. Atractivo. Brillante. Controvertido. Los seis meses de Yanis Varoufakis(Atenas, 1961) al frente del Ministerio de Finanzas de Grecia lo convirtieron en una celebridad global, en una suerte […]
Bitcoin, Blockchain and the Future of Europe – Interviewed by Tom Upchurch for WIRED
, 25/12/2017
In an exclusive interview with WIRED, Yanis Varoufakis discusses Bitcoin’s bubble, the fantasy of apolitical money and the opportunities for the blockchain to reform Europe. By TOM UPCHURCH Saturday 23 December 2017 When I first met Yanis Varoufakis in the summer of 2014, he was a highly respected but relatively obscure economist. Back then, the price […]
Calling for an immediate end to investments in new fossil fuel production and infrastructure
, 14/12/2017
DECLARATION We the undersigned, call for an immediate end to investments in new fossil fuel production and infrastructure, and encourage a dramatic increase in investments in renewable energy. We are issuing this call to action in the lead up to the climate summit hosted by President Macron in Paris this December. President Macron and other world […]
