Can Europe Make It? - Yanis Varoufakis speaks to openDemocracy

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  • Опубліковано 7 вер 2024
  • The former Greek finance minister on Brexit and his own experience negotiating with Europe.

КОМЕНТАРІ • 80

  • @Injudiciously
    @Injudiciously 7 років тому +13

    This man is the embodiment of Spock. This is the personality Gene Roddenberry tried to mimic. But such a fickle comparison belies the extraordinary intellect and the power for good this man possesses.

    • @nikoxiro
      @nikoxiro 5 років тому

      The are pictures of him looking like Spok..

  • @freespirit1547
    @freespirit1547 7 років тому +3

    Wonderful analysis by Yanis Varoufakis and v.interesting his view that the EU were more interested in making sure that Greece had a bad outcome rather than a mutually beneficial outcome, in order to show the rest of Europe not to get any ideas.
    Now we have a PM who has shown she is prepared to literally do anything, even sell her soul and risk total humiliation to stay in power, rather than do the best thing for Britain, is the one who is going to now negotiate with the EU on behalf of Britain!

  • @mrkellysch
    @mrkellysch 7 років тому +3

    What a great economist. So well articulated

  • @alastairhunter353
    @alastairhunter353 6 років тому +2

    Enlightening, intelligent and controversial. Thanks Yanis

  • @aphex303101
    @aphex303101 7 років тому +6

    It is nonsensical that any strong and independent nation would want to stay within the union that Varoufakis describes.

    • @visionofdisorder
      @visionofdisorder 7 років тому +1

      the only reason he's saying to remain and reform the EU is because he fears that the alternative is a return to right wing politics of europe in the mid 20th century.

  • @olivierma2691
    @olivierma2691 4 роки тому +1

    The interviewer is good. Asking a question and then wait quietly for the interviewee to finish.

  • @A203D
    @A203D 6 років тому +1

    Yanis is defintely right about one thing, which is how our anger with our own political ineptness led to a rejection of the establishment on June 23th. That is related to the EU. Our government was never capable of running the country as a soverign autonomus state because our most important legislation was always handed down by Brussels. The public anger in particular was aimed at immigration and how the UK government has no power to control immigration. It was continously forced down our throat how immigration was benign, yet the British people saw how uncontrolled immigration had devestated the country. The only way was to block Brussels from Westerminster forever.

  • @willlawrence8756
    @willlawrence8756 7 років тому +4

    Great interview!!

  • @gocatman
    @gocatman 7 років тому +2

    Minister Varoukis speaks of EU Arrogance, Bureaucratic Arrogance concerning Greek Debt. Negative Influence of EU Banks and this spectacle helped Brexit.
    Thanks, Anastasios Voultsides (see below) for follow up on Var... career history, but he has Talent and Guts!

  • @playstationpro1291
    @playstationpro1291 6 років тому +4

    Bravo Nice video

  • @josephinestabel9647
    @josephinestabel9647 2 роки тому +1

    I recommend everyone to read his book"Adults in the Room" Interesting.

  • @louperrotta3949
    @louperrotta3949 6 років тому

    Important to recognise that it doesn't matter in the least what anyone in the UK wants from Brexit - from the PM down - as we have insufficient leverage to influence Brussel institutions. These institutions WILL ensure that Brexit is a painful as possible in order to deter others. It will be painful over the short to medium term - but nothing like as painful as staying would be over the medium to longer term (or forever). The EU is not reformable - turkeys don't vote for christmas - ever.

  • @jonathanwarner1844
    @jonathanwarner1844 6 років тому

    "What kind of Brexit." That is the sound that the thin end of a wedge makes as it is being inserted.

  • @naturecollision
    @naturecollision 6 років тому +1

    if only all or most of politicians were like him ... we would not have any banks anymore...especially none too big to fail..

  • @stash.
    @stash. 7 років тому +3

    When Britain voted to become part of the European Union it was their job to prove it was worth the financial burden & hassle of surrendering their rule of law, they could not and it got consistently worse decade after decade, The British voted out now respect what the Brexiteers had to accept in 1975.
    European Parliament & it's neighbors became a protectionist Union for terrorists, Anders Breivik killed 120+ people & kids and was handed a 20yr prison sentence, Europe is sick. European Parliament protects criminals & terrorists, i voted Brexit & i absolutely despise European Parliament it's the EUSSR.

    • @bazjones7349
      @bazjones7349 7 років тому

      Looncan we did not vote to join the EU ,we voted to join the common market ,from then on it was mission creep !!!! another thing most of the commentators miss is it was a vote on unlimited immigration ,which macron is now against !!!!!

    • @swanpride
      @swanpride 7 років тому +1

      Nonsense....for one, the goals of the EU are clearly stated in the very first draft of the very first version of this agreement, way back when it was still an union for steel and coal. Even back then it was clearly stated in which direction this alliance was supposed to go if it works out (and, btw, even back then so called experts claimed that it would never work and fall apart in a few years). And two, there are a number of options to limit immigration within the EU law, the UK just opted to never use any of them. Complain towards them, and when you are at it, complain also about everything else which is wrong in your country, because despite what they like to tell you, they are the ones who messed up, not the EU. The EU has just become the handy scapegoat for every politician out there.

  • @Martyntd5
    @Martyntd5 6 років тому

    Varoufakis has a great understanding of the EU and how it works. But his views on brexit are motivated by a desire to keep the UK inside the EU to act as an anchor and a stabilising force _against_ the EU. He knows the EU is awful, but he wants the UK to stay in, for the benefit of Europe, not the UK.
    His argument is that if the UK leaves, then the EU will blow up and the UK will be consumed in the blast. I dont think that is true. Certainly the Mediterranean states will be better off if the UK stays in and I think he's just peddling a scare story in the hope of effecting that outcome.

  • @charlesmasters2045
    @charlesmasters2045 6 років тому

    The EU would have always tried to prevent the UK from getting any sort of good deal so there would be no benefit in extending the transition period - it's like lancing a boil.

  • @kbreslin7289
    @kbreslin7289 7 років тому

    A conspiracy without conspirators is a fantastic definition.

  • @albwilso9
    @albwilso9 2 роки тому

    do you think that there is a relationship between the “Indo-Europeans” and what is happening. they have been destroying less aggressive peoples for some 10,000 years and grabbing everything for themselves? I think that the most “aggressive people” in the world are mostly Indo European decent. ! Interesting!!!

  • @brianbriggs6479
    @brianbriggs6479 6 років тому

    Advice from this guy and his buddy Larry Summers who almost single handily were responsible for the near bankruptcy of Eastern Europe and the financial crisis in the US

  • @disgny
    @disgny 6 років тому

    Mr. V. is always persuasive. How dismaying to hear him say that Europe is in WORSE shape than the US(!) Is that possible?! The mechanisms appear to be basically identical.

  • @swanpride
    @swanpride 7 років тому +3

    Why do people keep listening to this guy? The only thing he has managed so far is to put people Greece in a bigger fix. In addition, a lot of what he says in the interview is factually wrong. No, the EU didn't create the financial crisis, we have the US to thank for that (and it is kind of amazing how this little fact is forgotten again and again), the EU just had to deal with it (and did so fairly well overall). The whole analogy with the guy who kills its parents and then complains to be an orphan would fit Greece better than the EU, because it was not the EU which put Greece in a fix in the first place, it was Greece which first cheated itself into trouble and then expected of the EU to just pay up its debt. Also the officials within the EU are elected, either directly or indirectly. They are not necessarily elected by your home country, because every member of the union has a say in who is send to the EU, but at some point some group of people either appointed the guy in question or whoever decided that said guy should have said responsibility. If you really want to see a body full of unelected officials, just look at the UN.

    • @zayal859
      @zayal859 5 років тому

      tiglath pileser I agree with your point on it being the German and French banks’ fault on over lending but that doesn’t mean it was all of the German people’s fault. It does us no good to hate whole nations of people, just the bankers and politicians of that group deserve the to be reprimanded and a new system to be introduced where that abuse of power cannot be done again

  • @TheDailyGroov
    @TheDailyGroov 7 років тому +10

    For goodness sake, Yes we did know what sort of Brexit we were voting for. Leaving the single market & leaving the ECJ where very clear. I like Yanis but hes being a little dishonest there.

    • @Timrath
      @Timrath 7 років тому +1

      I'm under the impression that a substantial portion of those who voted for Brexit were unaware of many of the potential ramifications.

    • @TheDailyGroov
      @TheDailyGroov 7 років тому +4

      Timrath "substantial portion" you have data on this? A You GOV survey done a few weeks ago still had 40% of the population wanting a hard brexit, I think 65% of those surveyed said they wanted to "get on with it". We all have anecdotal evidence, how about all those remainers that voted remain because they were worried/told property values would drop like a stone the day after. We know now a lot of the pre ref talk was just scaremongering do you concede "some" remain voters now think the sun will continue to rise in our skies and maybe leaving isn't that bad after all?
      Ironic how this week the EU have confirmed the army and ballistic/weaponry project that only 12 months ago remain campaigners were saying is a myth and the EU will never have an army as it's not what it's about.
      Its a totalitarian institution, that's drawing more power from the member states every year. It's constitutionally naive and still a baby in comparison to ours and it's destined for bad things, when you have unaccountable politicians history testifies to this everytime as being a disaster. it's not democratic. It's Why I voted leave, they have had 40 years to fix it but there is no appetite in Brussels to reform it, why should they, it's all good for them!

    • @Vivungisport
      @Vivungisport 7 років тому +2

      EU PARLIAMENT ARE AN MAFFIA CARTEL.

  • @JoaoSantos-lv4rc
    @JoaoSantos-lv4rc 7 років тому

    He's describing bureaucrocy e_e [the bgeginning]

  • @salahaddin2009
    @salahaddin2009 Рік тому +1

    i'll save you 13 minutes. No.

  • @lolaolarte3255
    @lolaolarte3255 7 років тому +5

    Yanis Yanis Yanis

  • @cheydinal5401
    @cheydinal5401 7 років тому

    Merkel will think "This now becomes a problem for the next Chancellor". Yeah, sure Schulz will win

  • @ukisout2181
    @ukisout2181 4 роки тому

    Who cares about Europe, I live in England.
    This channel needs to grow up and act like adults.

  • @voncoconut5293
    @voncoconut5293 7 років тому +5

    Varoufackis, you were elected to represent your people. You freely admit that you failed completely with your negotiations with the EU bureaucrats and you failed to convince your fellow ministers to follow their elected mandate and so you prefered to resign and walk away rather than be associated with the catastrophe that is today's Greek tragedy. You admit that you are left of left wing politics and a Marxist. You've said that you would vote for Jeremy Corbin. You have the eloquence and efficacy of a Barack Obama which, as we have learned to our cost, is about as useful as a fart in the wind. You are just another talking head.

  • @remcovanek2
    @remcovanek2 7 років тому +1

    1:09 or in other words... why don't you pay our bills because we never take responsibility for our own actions...

  • @MrDaiseymay
    @MrDaiseymay 7 років тому +1

    WHY IS THIS FAILED ECONOMIST ? CONTINUALLY BEEN ASKED TO COMMENT (MEDDLE) IN OUR BREXIT AFFAIRS--SOD OFF.

    • @AKAHeroes
      @AKAHeroes 7 років тому +4

      Failed economist? He's better educated than you could ever hope to be. CAPITAL LETTERS!!

  • @matthewstagg9786
    @matthewstagg9786 7 років тому +7

    Jesus. Greece borrowed the money. Greece spent the money. Where in this is the admission of culpability on the part of Greece? Talk about irony: the country that borrowed loads of money and spent loads of money now complains that the countries that let it the money are at fault. GROW UP.

    • @matthiaswalker38
      @matthiaswalker38 7 років тому +10

      Hi Matthew. I don't suppose you have ever heard of a company called Goldman Sachs.
      Look into their relationship with Greece and it might help you grow up a bit

    • @matthewstagg9786
      @matthewstagg9786 7 років тому +3

      Yes, noone is responsible for their own actions. It's all somebody else's fault. A country can decide that everyone can retire at 50 and the state will pay for it, borrow massively to support it and it will of course be the fault of Germany, the U.S. etc etc. Greece has defaulted on currency unions FIVE TIMES in the last two hundred years.

    • @navyblue12
      @navyblue12 7 років тому +8

      I'd like to see you make the same arguement in a few years when the level of indebtness of all the so called "First World" is laid bare. Greece is the canary in the coalmine. If you maintain this position when the proverbial shit hits your own fan, then respect. Otherwise, it's kind of easy to point fingers at the first one who went belly up, pretending it's a unique case.

    • @JHMichaels
      @JHMichaels 6 років тому +2

      I think Yanis concentrates on the shortcomings of the Eurozone's policies and architecture more than on the fact of Greece's irresponsible borrowing because, quite frankly, it is more important, and more culpable. The big question is why exactly German and French banks were bailed out, by shifting the debt onto the EU's taxpayers, in the first place. Private debt thus was intentionally changed into public debt, with absolutely no consent from the average European. Banks issue loans after assessing the risk involved; settling on interest rates commensurate to the risk assessed etc. If the borrower is unable to repay, it is quite a reasonable outcome that the lender loses some or all of their money. That's how it works in theory at least. These banks, therefore, lend money at literally no risk. It is ridiculous. This is not a unique situation, many countries, companies, and private citizens have defaulted on their debts in the past, and it'll keep happening. I advise (if you're genuinely interested in the topic) to read Varoufakis's 'And The Weak Suffer What They Must?', and also his new book 'Adults in the Room'. It explains the troika's intransigence, rigidity, and shortsightedness quite brilliantly and simply.

    • @alloomis1635
      @alloomis1635 6 років тому +6

      greece did not borrow, the greek government borrowed. they should be in jail. the international bankers should not have loaned the money, clearly greece could not repay. put the bankers in jail.

  • @waqarghulam3548
    @waqarghulam3548 7 років тому +1

    Too much repetition in his statements, he looses his train of thought, a very good speaker but limited substance, changes accents based on where he is, too much of a showman, I won't trust him.

  • @tullebukk6522
    @tullebukk6522 4 роки тому

    sorry, but 1337