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President Trump and House Republicans have unveiled their long-promised proposal to reform America’s tax code, with Trump calling it a “big, beautiful Christmas present” for the American people. Critics say the gift is a tax cut for the richest Americans. We discuss the proposal with economist and former Greek Finance Minister Yanis Varoufakis, who argues, “It’s an out-and-out class war waged against the poorest, the weakest, the disenfranchised—the very same people that Donald Trump appealed to in order to get elected.”
 

As the White House finally agrees to release FEMAdisaster aid with more flexibility to try to help rebuild Puerto Rico’s devastated power grid and other infrastructure, we speak with economist Yanis Varoufakis, former Greek finance minister, about the history of the island’s debt crisis and what to do as it recovers from Hurricane Maria.
 

Yanis Varoufakis is telling me about the birth of his daughter, Xenia. “What I felt was an immense weight of responsibility,” he says. “Absolutely blind love and the sense of focusing on one individual.” But the experience didn’t make him feel like a different person. “It didn’t change my internal constitution or the way I looked at the world.”

“It is something that people find hard to fathom, but in 1980, Greece had the lowest level of debt in Europe. We were save, save, save, like the Chinese are today. Financialization, which is a global phenomenon, hit Greece around then. Suddenly, this culture of parsimony evaporated.”

AS TOLD TO ASH CARTER, NOV 2, 2017

Oct 31, 2017 YANIS VAROUFAKIS ,  GEORGE TYRIKOS-ERGAS
In September alone, another 2,238 refugees arrived in Lesbos, despite Turkey’s attempts to cut the flow. A camp designed for 2,000 people now “houses” three times that number, behind rows of barbed wire, in a magma of mud, refuse, and human excrement. 

Entre adultes, les conversations prennent parfois un tour « très sérieux » à ne pas mettre dans toutes les oreilles… Aussi, quand l’ancien ministre des Finances, en Grèce, nous invite à de nouvelles conversations, nous nous demandons ce qu’il va nous dire de si osé.

Doug Henwood’s long review of my Adults in the Room follows. Plus a radio interview with Doug for BEHIND THE NEWS.
https://www.yanisvaroufakis.eu/wp-content/uploads/2017/10/Behind-the-News-17_10_12-on-Adults-in-the-Room-.mp3

The Ins and Outs of Europe’s Deep Establishment
By Stan Persky
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