Yanis Varoufakis: Thoughts for the Post-2008 World

Anti-capitalists had a miserable year. But so did capitalism. While the defeat of Jeremy Corbyn’s Labour party in the UK this month threatened the radical left’s momentum, particularly in the US, where the presidential primaries loom, capitalism found itself under fire from some unexpected quarters. Billionaires, CEOs, and even the financial press have joined intellectuals and community leaders in a...

[embedded content] 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 the usual annual Harold Wincott...

Εύχομαι σε όλους να καταφέρουμε φέτος να ρίξουμε μαύρη πέτρα στην δεκαετία της βαρβαρότητας. Κάθε μία από τις δέκα περασμένες Πρωτοχρονιές έσφυζε από τις ψευδείς υποσχέσεις ενός συστήματος εξουσίας που, ενώ έφερε την Κρίση, επιμένει να αυτοπαρουσιάζεται ως η Λύση. Όμως, όπως καλά γνωρίζουμε, Η προκοπή, η δικαιοσύνη, η αξιοπρέπεια, η ειρήνη δεν θα έρθουν μόνες τους. Οι εξώσεις και η στυγνή...

Σήμερα αποχαιρετήσαμε έναν σπάνιο για την βαρβαρότητα των καιρών οικουμενικό άνθρωπο, έναν παγκόσμιας εμβέλειας δημιουργό, ένα φίλο που, ευτυχώς, δεν έπαψε να είναι “επικίνδυνος”, θυμίζοντας στους λαούς ότι “έτσι κι αλλιώς η γη θα γίνει κόκκινη. Είτε κόκκινη από ζωή είτε κόκκινη από θάνατο.”...

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 take on 2019, I thought posting it here might...

[embedded content] 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’.

On the next phase of Europe’s transnational progressive movement PRAGUE ADDRESS, 22nd November 2019 [embedded content] 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 a fact! The EU’s disintegration is happening. New...

[embedded content] Everything’s on the UP with the Tories the gap between the richies and the poories the porky pies and fabricated storiesYes – everything’s on the up with the Tories Everything’s up the creek with the Blue Boys They’re selling off the NHS to cowboys They’re cutting back on nurses  (but investing it in hearses) the nitwits and the we-don’t-have-a-clue boys      Everything’s on the...

What are we to make of a political class that proclaims its ethical commitments but that cannot bring itself to endorse the only concrete actions that would honour them? This general election is unique in ways that transcend Brexit. Over the decades that I have been observing British politics, never before have I witnessed a consensus so widespread and powerful regarding the country’s urgent needs and...

The capitalist system is broken. It’s time to try something different. [embedded content] 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 being destroyed for profits. Political power is...