#57: The Man Who Defied Europe – Yanis Varoufakis

Joe speaks with former Greek Finance Minister Yanis Varoufakis, the man who defied Europe to save Greece – and failed. Yanis, the suave economics professor turned unexpected politician, has recently announced he will run for Prime Minister of Greece at the next national elections. He is the author of multiple books including And The Weak Suffer What They Must?, Adults in the Room, and Talking to My Daughter About the Economy.

Show notes

Selected links

• Follow Yanis Varoufakis: Website | Twitter
• Game Theory: A Critical Introduction, by Sean Hargreaves-Heap and Yanis Varoufakis
• Adults in the Room, by Yanis Varoufakis
• Yanis’ other books: The Global Minotaur, And The Weak Suffer What They Must?, and Talking To My Daughter About The Economy
• “I Am In Blood Stepp’d In So Far”, Macbeth quote
• DiEM25

Topics discussed

• What three core economics concepts should a person know in order to be a minimum effective citizen? [4:30]
• What percentage of citizens in a Western nation like US, Australia or Greece actually understand basic economics?[8:40]
• Why government spending is not analogous to household spending. [9:14]
• Game theory and the prisoner’s dilemma from the guy who wrote a textbook about them. [14:52]
• Who were Yanis’ parents and how did they meet? [21:24]
• Insiders vs. outsiders. [26:56]
• The prevailing atmosphere in an insolvent post-2010 Greece. [32:50]
• How does a country become insolvent? [43:04]
• Why Greece needed debt restructuring. [45:02]
• The cold logic behind why the Troika wished to impose more loans on Greece. [50:32]
• What is Angela Merkel like as a leader and a person? [55:00]
• The Greek Bankers threaten Yanis and his family, who move to the US. [57:45]
• Staring down the Troika, as Finance Minister of Greece. [1:01:02]
• Does game theory apply to the negotiations between Greece and the Troika? [1:09:39]
• Whose idea was the Greek Bailout Referendum and why did it lead to Yanis’ resignation? [1:12:04]
• Is Alexis Tsipras an insider or an outsider? [1:15:43]
• What motivated Alexis Tsipras to accept the european programme? [1:17:10]
• What general lessons did Yanis take from the Greek government-debt crisis? [1:18:09]
• Is there such a thing as “too much” government debt? [1:20:08]
• What is Yanis’ advice to the Australian Treasurer? [1:21:22]
• DiEM, Yanis’ new democratic movement. [1:22:42]