ATHENS – Since the summer of 2015, Greece has (mostly) dropped out of the news, but not because its economic condition has stabilized. A prison is not newsworthy as long as the inmates suffer quietly. It is only when they stage a rebellion, and the authorities crack down, that the satellite trucks appear. [To read on click here]
A few days ago I received an email from the Guardian: “We’re putting a panel together of writers and thinkers following the announcement that Jeremy Corbyn is planning to relaunch his image and policies as a leftwing populist. We are asking for 300 words in response to the question, “What should Corbyn’s leftwing populism look like?”. Here is the response that I, and others, provided:
The Sun and William Shakespeare are both popular but only one of the two is populist. Jeremy Corbyn cannot be made over into a populist any more than the bard could. The question is whether he can become popular. If some form of makeover is necessary, fair enough. But it is pure mischief to portray this as a slide toward populism.
This event took place on 3rd December 2016 in Zagreb’s magnificent National Theatre in front of an audience of at least 1200 people. Thanks Zagreb!
With Srećko Horvat, Elif Shafak, Yanis Varoufakis & Owen Jones
A troubled Britain is on its way out of a troubled European Union. Disintegration and xenophobia are in the air. The government in London is in disarray. But so is every other government in Europe, not to mention the European Commission whose authority is tending increasingly towards zero.
In recent years we have seen far more of the workings behind the curtain of neoliberalism than we ever have before. This is in part, I believe, due to the work of Yanis Varoufakis. A Greek economist educated in Britain, Varoufakis first made headlines for his integral role as Finance Minister for the Syriza government of Greece between January and September 2015. Continue reading
(Please note that this event will be conducted in Greek)
On 4th December 2016 I delivered the keynote at the RiskMinds International risk management conference in Amsterdam. A summary of my talk, compiled by the organisers, follows. Continue reading
Click here for an 8 minute version, recorded at a later Cambridge Union event
ATHENS – If Donald Trump understands anything, it is the value of bankruptcy and financial recycling. He knows all about success via strategic defaults, followed by massive debt write-offs and the creation of assets from liabilities. But does he grasp the profound difference between a developer’s debt and the debt of a large economy? And does he understand that China’s private debt bubble is a powder keg under the global economy? Much hinges on whether he does… [To read on click here]
This speech was part of a Cambridge Union debate on ‘This House Has Lost Confidence in Austerity’. See below for the video of the whole debate. Continue reading
Click on the image
Democracy starts at home! So, at DiEM25 we decide on the movement’s important policy positions by means of an internal vote/referendum that follows a free and frank internal exchange. Below you will find the four options that our members are currently voting for (there will be a runoff vote if none of them secure 50% of the votes plus 1). You will also find a briefing on the state-of-play with the Brexit process (or is it shambles?).
Yanis Varoufakis, Ralph Nader, Tim Barker, Donna Murch and Simon Schama, interviewed by Christopher Lydon.
So, the European Commission, at last, concluded that the eurozone’s fiscal stance is too austerian. “Better late than never”, some will say. Alas, this is too optimistic a take. The reason? The Commission is irrelevant and it knows it. Decisions of fiscal policy are now taken in the eurogroup where Commissioner Moscovici has next to no gravitas. Moreover, the Commission seems to know this, putting forward a proposal that it knows will be ignored. Continue reading
On the same day that I addressed an audience of more than 1000 DiEM25 members in Hamburg, I was also kindly invited by Joachim and Renate Pawlik to address the Pawlik Group‘s Annual Conference. In my Keynote Address to the business representatives attending, I spoke of the need for a radical unionist campaign to counter the ubiquitous rise of xenophobic nationalism. And I dared suggest that this most DiEM25-like campaign should be kickstarted with the Speech of Hope for Europe. “Who should deliver it”, I asked. “Of all politicians that can pull it off”, I suggested “the only one standing is Angela Merkel. It is her last chance to leave behind a legacy of the European leader that saved the European project.”
FOR THE KEYNOTE CLICK BELOW
FOR THE Q&A THAT FOLLOWED CLICK BELOW
& TV
I had no doubt Donald Trump would win, just like I had no doubt Brexit would happen, so maybe I’m not as shell-shocked as you,” says Yanis Varoufakis. The former Greek finance minister is speaking to me several days after the Republican candidate’s historic victory. He doesn’t sound smug about being so prescient, more resigned, deflated, defeated. The left has been here before. Continue reading
