Modest Proposal

The lean years are here again, to the apparent satisfaction of Germany’s Finance Minister, a Social Democrat.  The rate of growth of the budgetary surplus was declining, therefore restraining expenditure was the prudent attitude, the public must rest assured that over the next few years 25 billion euros will be saved, the chance of a mildly pro-cyclical switch to austerity will not be missed.  But such is the degree of credibility of prudent handling of the public finances that the markets over-reacted, the Minister had to reassure that all was really not quite so bad, equilibrium of polit

Last Friday, Yanis Varoufakis was in Italy to promote European Spring, a list of candidates standing across the continent in next May’s European election. The former Greek finance minister visited Rome just days after the European Commission had struck down the Italian government’s budget, sparking further rows over Brussels’ authority to curb member states’ spending. At his press conference, Varoufakis called for a “radical Europeanism,” as an alternative to both the populist right and the neoliberal center.

ATHENS – Europe is at the mercy of a common currency that not only was unnecessary for European integration, but that is actually undermining the European Union itself. So what should be done about a currency without a state to back it – or about the 19 European states without a currency that they control?
The logical answer is either to dismantle the euro or to provide it with the federal state it needs. The problem is that the first solution would be hugely costly, while the second is not feasible in a political climate favoring the re-nationalization of sovereignty.

Στις 25 Μαρτίου, την επέτειο των 60 ετών από την Συνθήκη της Ρώμης, το DiEM25 παρουσίασε την πανευρωπαϊκή του ατζέντα οικονομικής & κοινωνικής πολιτικής στην Ρώμη.  Την προηγούμενη μέρα, σε συνέντευξη τύπου στο Κέντρο Ξένων Ανταποκριτών της Ρώμης, οι Γιάνης Βαρουφάκης και Lorenzo Marsili μίλησαν στα μέσα για την ατζέντα αυτή, που το DiEM25 αποκαλεί ΝΕΑ ΕΥΡΩΠΑΪΚΗ ΣΥΜΦΩΝΙΑ (European New Deal) και προανήγγειλαν την εκλογική έκφρασή της στις κάλπες των ευρωεκλογών του 2019 – ακολουθεί το κείμενο της ομιλίας τους στην συνέντευξη τύπου:

In October 2015, I had the opportunity to debate, in Munich, Professor Hans Werner Sinn on the European Monetary Union and, more broadly, Europe’s economy . On 30 August 2016, at the Alpbach European Forum, I debated Professor Sinn’s successor … Continue reading →

It was with great sorrow that I learned of Michel Rocard’s passing. Since 2013, when he wrote the Preface to our Modest Proposal for Resolving the Euro Crisis, Michel has been a valued interlocutor and supporter. Only a few weeks … Continue reading →

This panel, organised by the House of Ambrosetti (Cernobbio), included: Martin Wolf (Chair), Jyrki Katainejn (Vice President of the European Commission), Yves Mersch (ECB Executive Board Member), Yanis Varoufakis (DiEM25), Jens Spahn (State Minister, Finance Ministry, Germany)Filed under: DiEM, European Crisis, Modest Proposal, Post-MinFin … Continue reading →

My latest column for Project Syndicate is now out. Click here for the Project Syndicate page or read on: ATHENS – Greece’s public debt has been put back on Europe’s agenda. Indeed, this was perhaps the Greek government’s main achievement … Continue reading →

Filed under: European Crisis, Greek Crisis, Modest Proposal

Jan 20th 2015, 14:10 BY YANIS VAROUFAKIS | UNIVERSITY OF ATHENS Yanis Varoufakis is a professor of economic theory at the University of Athens and Syriza parliamentary candidate in the general election on 25th January. In November he outlined a plan to … Continue reading →