Yanis Varoufakis on the death of capitalism, Starmer, and the tyranny of big tech
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Published 2023-09-29
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In his latest book, the former Greek politician - who in 2015, at the height of the Greek debt crisis, was catapulted from academic obscurity to Minister of Finance - argues that insane sums of money that were supposed to re-float our economies in the wake of the financial crisis and the 2020 pandemic have ended up supercharging big tech's hold over every aspect of the economy. And capitalism's twin pillars - markets and profit - have been replaced with big tech's platforms and rents; while we, the “cloud serfs”, increase these companies’ power with every online click and scroll.
Today on Ways to Change the World, Yanis Varufakis tells Krishnan Guru-Murthy how the world is grappling with an entirely new economic system and therefore political power, and why Britain and the EU are “irrelevant” compared with the “fiefdoms” of US and Chinese tech firms.
Produced by Silvia Maresca
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All Comments (21)
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The way Yanis explains things, it makes you almost addicted to learn more. You don't want him to stop talking because he keeps unveiling truths one after the other. He does it in a way that makes sense to the average person, whilst in an intelligent way that reinforces his expertise and mastery of economics. One of the best modern economists of all time.
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Yanis is a speaker of the truth. Big respect. We need world leaders like this.
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'Cloud Serf' and 'Cloud Capital'. I know what I am. This is an amazing lecture. Yanis has given me a framework in which to understand my economic reality in the 2023 world.
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A good interview: Guru-Murthy did not try to win an argument but instead put questions that allowed Varoufakis to elaborate.
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Went to school, learned history, said to myself: I'm so lucky I was not born in feudal times! Decades later Me: Ouch!
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I love when he said of Sunak and Starmer, "they're not in power, they're in government".
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Thank you Yanis for being on the side of truth and justice for all mankind.
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Varoufakis is one of the few politicians/economists, who talks any sense. There's no way to get around his absolute logic. 😎
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Thank you for the interview with Yanis, such an intelligent & honest human being
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He's spot on about Starmer's spinelessness.
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During the Greek crisis I couldn't get enough of this great Greek then. Now I can even hardly get enough of this guy. He's a gem!
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Yanis is the only teacher who can simplify complex ideas elegantly in short period of time!
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"cloud serf", brilliant observation. I find Yanis to be a voice of reasoned progressive thought.
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I will never give up believing in Yanis' message. This treadmill of wealth inequality cannot last forever, the people will wake up, it's only a matter of time
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This dude is fascinating. Love the way he speaks, even krishnan was enamoured. The concept of techno feudalism 🤯... He is so so right. History really does repeat itself and we really do have a generation of techno surfs feeding their narcissistic overlords. Parasitic wealth accumulation is the mantra of today's financial elite.
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Thank you for this interview, appreciate Channel 4 letting Yanis speak on this
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Vanis is constantly excellent. Highly intelligent, clear-headed, highly analytical, intuitive, courageous, compelling and charming. A highly important thinker and speaker.
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I am French and I sometimes had difficulty understanding what he was saying but I constantly went back to make sure I understood all his thoughts...because I was convinced that I was listening something important.Thank you Yanis....and well done Channel 4!
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I wish many more people would read and listen to him. He is a clear explainer and not condescending.
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Congratulations to channel 4,this was great program,and yanis is truly inspiring ,his clear thinking and honesty is a credit to the Greek people.The only problem is honesty and equality doesn't work in politics.
