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his time in Sydney, had his own slot on a local television show where he was critical of John Howard's conservative government, and he also acquired Australian
citizenship.[5][10]
In 2000, a combination of nostalgia and abhorrence of
the conservative turn of the land Down Under, led Varoufakis to return to Greece where he was unanimously
elected an associate professor of economic theory at the
University of Athens.[5] In 2002, Varoufakis established
The University of Athens Doctoral Program in Economics
(UADPhilEcon), which he directed until 2008. In 2005
he was promoted to full professor of economic theory.[10]
From January 2004 to December 2006, Varoufakis
served as economic advisor to George Papandreou, of
whose government he was to become an ardent critic a
few years later.[11]
Varoufakis was elected to the Greek parliament, gathering the largest number of votes (more than 142 thousand)
of any Greek MP, representing Syriza,[19] and took oce
in the new government of Alexis Tsipras two days later,
on 27 January 2015.[20] He was appointed nance minister by Tsipras shortly after the election victory. The
party promised to renegotiate Greeces debt and signicantly curtail the austerity measures which had led to the
longest recession in post-war global history.[21][22]
3
tral Bank would have pulled its liquidity provisions from
Greeces commercial banks, ensuring that they closed
their doors to the public. Varoufakis led this negotiation at the Eurogroup and with the International Monetary
Fund. On 20 February, at the Eurogroup, an agreement
to extend the Greek loan facility for four months, until 30 June 2015, was struck and Varoufakis hailed it as
crucial - because it represented a fresh start by specifying that the terms of the loan would be renegotiated and
the conditionalities would be re-drawn on the basis of a
new list of reforms to be provided by the Greek government. That list was submitted by Varoufakis on 23 February and was approved by the Eurogroup of 24 February.
On those grounds, Varoufakis signed the ocial document by which the loan agreements expiry date was to
be extended from 28 February to 30 June 2015 - a fourmonth period during which a new agreement was to be
negotiated.
the U.K. and the U.S. even before they called on the European Left.[24]
Varoufakis view on Greeces public debt, and the crisis which began in 2010 as a result of the Greek governments inability to service it, had been the same since
2010: the Greek state has become insolvent in early 2010
and the bailouts that followed were attempts to extend
and pretend - to take on the largest loan in history (in order to keep making repayments on older loans) on condition of austerity measures that would shrink the incomes
from which the old, un-serviceable loans, and the new
bailout debts would have to be repaid. In that sense, Varoufakis argued, taking on the bailout loans in 2010 and
2012, before restructuring the debt properly and putting
in place a proper developmental program (including reforming the oligarchy, creating a development bank and
dealing with the banks non-performing loans) would lead
to deeper bankruptcy, a great depression and a harder default in the future. His explanation of why the troika of
Greeces lenders (the IMF, the ECB and the European
Commission) insisted on these bailout loans was that they
represented a transfer of losses from the private banks
to Greeces and Europes taxpayers. In his view, the 20
February 2015 Eurogroup agreement, that he negotiated,
was an excellent opportunity to move forward.[23]
In a discussion with Nobel laureate Joseph Stiglitz on invitation of U.S. economic think tank Institute for New
Economic Thinking, Varoufakis stated on 9 April 2015
that the Greek state does not have the capacity to develop public assets. Therefore, he announced that his
government was restarting the privatization process.
However, unlike the former governments they would insist on establishing publicprivate partnerships with the
state retaining a minority stake to generate state revenues.
They would also require a minimum investment on behalf
of the bidder, and decent working conditions for the
workers.[25] Varoufakis also said that although the government needed to avoid a primary budget decit, the
bailout programs target of a surplus of 4.5 percent of
GDP was outlandish and should be reduced to no more
than 1.5%.[26]
On 25 June 2015, Varoufakis was presented with an ultimatum in the Eurogroup. It comprised a scal proposal,
a reform agenda and a funding formula that Varoufakis,
his government and, indeed, several other ministers of
nance sitting in the Eurogroup, considered to be nonviable. The next day, the Greek Prime Minister, Alexis
Tsipras, called for a referendum on 5 July so that the
Greek people could decide for themselves. Two days later
the European Central Bank took steps that ensured the
closure of Greeces banks, which Varoufakis (as nance
However, the troika of lenders were not happy to let the minister) had to administer.
new Greek government change the previous conditionalities, nor to agree to a debt restructuring. Varoufakis On 5 July 2015, the bailout referendum took place. Varoclaims that, soon after the extension was granted at the ufakis had campaigned vigorously in favour of the 'No'
end of February, the troika reneged on its promise to con- vote, against the united support for the 'Yes of Greeces
sider a new scal and reform program for Greece, de- media and of Europes leadership. To make his position
manding of the Greek government that it implements the clear, he declared on television that he would resign as
[27]
old one (which the Syriza government was elected to re- Finance Minister if Greeks voted 'Yes. The outcome
of
the
vote
was
a
resounding
61.5%
vote
in favour of
write. In March 2015, the Wall Street Journal pointed
'No'.
Varoufakis
went
on
television,
soon
after
the reto several tensions between Greece and the other Eurosult
was
announced,
to
celebrate
the
Greeks
outstanding
zone countries, saying that some countries feel they have
taken the tough medicine and the 195 billion owed is courage and to declare that the government was deternot insignicant. Further, they stated other governments mined to honour this new mandate for a sensible, honhave philosophical dierences with Varoufakis and his ourable agreement with its creditors. However, a few
Anglosphere and Keynesian leanings. Peter Ludlow said hours later, late into the night, Varoufakis resigned. In
Varoufakis and his colleagues turned instinctively... to his resignation statement the following morning he said:
5 PERSONAL LIFE
On Friday 14 August, the government (without Varoufakis) pushed successfully through Parliament the 3rd
Greek bailout agreement - the one that Varoufakis had
described as a surrender document. The bailout Bill received 222 votes to 64 (as the conservative opposition
voted in favour). Up to 40 Syriza members including
Varoufakis voted against the bailout.[30] Just prior to that
vote, Varoufakis rose in Parliament to oer the Prime
Minister to resign his parliamentary seat, saying that this
was the only way he knew how to combine his strong opposition to the new bailout with loyalty to the party and
the Prime Minister. On 20 August, the Prime Minister of Greece resigned and called a snap election due to
the loss of support from rebelling Syriza MPs.[31] Varoufakis had already declared that he was not interested in
standing again for Syriza. At the same time, Syriza announced that any MP who voted against the bailout package would not be standing for the party. Varoufakis did
not go on to represent Popular Unity, unlike many of
his ex-Syriza colleagues, as he considered the party too
isolationist. Varoufakis choose not to stand in the election, saying he would focus on creating European network that would 'restor[e] democracy' in Europe.[32] A
month later, the national election was held and despite a
low voter turnout, Tsipras and his Syriza Party won just
over 35% of the vote. Combining with the Independent
Greeks Party, a majority was achieved and Tsipras was
returned to power.[33]
5 Personal life
Varoufakis is married to installation artist Danae Stratou
and has a daughter who is growing up in Sydney, from his
rst marriage to academic Margarite Anagnostopoulou
6.3
(Poulos). Although born into Greeces Orthodox Christian community and culture, his family was never religious and he considers himself an atheist. He is a
motorcycle enthusiast. Varoufakis has admitted that his
wife may indeed by the subject of the song Common
People by Pulp.[40][41]
Works
5
Modern Political Economics: Making sense of the
post-2008 world. London and New York: Routledge, 2011 (with Joseph Halevi and Nicholas Theocarakis)
(ed.): Game Theory: Critical Perspectives. Volumes
15, London and New York: Routledge, 2001
Foundations of Economics: A beginners companion.
London and New York: Routledge, 1998 (translation in Mandarin)
6.1
A Modest Proposal
6.2
Books in English
6.4 Essays
The Global Minotaur: An Interview with Yanis Varoufakis conducted by Philip Pilkington at Naked Capitalism, 13 February 2012
The New Priesthood: An Interview with Yanis Varoufakis conducted by Philip Pilkington at Naked Capitalism, 1 March 2012 (Part II, 7 March 2012)
7
Interviewed by Christian Amanpour on CNN International of Europes continued experiment with
Austerity, April 2012
Between 2004 and 2007 Mr Varoufakis served as economic adviser to George Papandreou, before he became
Prime Minister of Greece.
REFERENCES
References
[23] Varoufakis, Yanis. Of Greeks and Germans: Reimagining our shared future. Varoufakis. Retrieved 21
March 2015.
9 External links
Ocial website (English)
Personal blog at Valve Corporation, analysis of digital economies (English)
Personal commentary published at Project Syndicate, analysis of Greece and Europe (English)
Further reading
Parker, Ian (3 August 2015). The Greek warrior.
Proles. The New Yorker. 91 (22): 4457. Retrieved 22 March 2016.
10
10
10.1
10.2
Images
10.3
Content license