8 ms·

The fact that Varoufakis still expounds on anything at all after his disastrous term in the Greek government proves that he's utterly shameless, and possibly ha

The fact that Varoufakis still expounds on anything at all after his disastrous term in the Greek government proves that he's utterly shameless, and possibly has little self-awareness. But to see some people taking him serious and even discussing his writings with a straight face is surreal. This emperor has no clothes; publicly flashed Greece and all of Europe during its worst crisis in decades.

iamsaitam 3y ago
Please elaborate on the everlasting effects of his disastrous campaign as Greece's finance minister.
staunton 3y ago
What exactly is disastrous about his term? He pushed for certain unorthodox policies, which may or may not have been economically prudent, but his boss decided not to go for them after all when pressured by the EU, at which point Varoufakis resigned because his political bit was over.
- inglor_cz 3y ago
  Policies can't be divorced from reality, especially if you are a finance minister of a vulnerable, small, broke nation in hands of giants.
  - staunton 3y ago
    I totally agree with what you're saying. However, does it apply to Varoufakis? Can you cite sources or outline an argument that his policies actually were divorced from reality? What would have happened if the Greek government had not backed down? Would it have been worse than what's slowly happening now? (Honest questions, I don't know enough economics to judge)
- YeGoblynQueenne 3y ago
  >> What exactly is disastrous about his term? He gambled with the fortunes of an entire country just to satisfy his ego. I'm Greek and I watched the events of the disastrous Greek delegation to Europe unfold from abroad, the UK where I'm an immigrant. Varoufakis was such an obvious clown, devoid of every possible sense of reality, let alone any kind of competence in technical matters, that he made me appreciate Angela fucking Merkel. That's right. I'm Greek and watching Varoufakis interact with Merkel, I ended up admiring Merkel. That's how disastrous was his term.
  - elktown 3y ago
    People really need to stop using "I'm X, and I therefore I know". No. You're just as likely, maybe even more, of being politically invested. "I'm American so I know this Democrat/Republican is a freckin liar!" makes just as little sense.
    - YeGoblynQueenne 3y ago
      Note well what I wrote: >> I'm Greek and I watched the events of the disastrous Greek delegation to Europe unfold from abroad, the UK where I'm an immigrant. I don't know better because I'm Greek. I paid attention because I'm Greek. But, also: native language, better grasp of context. Don't understimate that. Yes, I have a better chance to know better than anyone who isn't Greek and that's what it is. Finally, I'm a leftie. I am politically invested: on his side. But even so, Varoufakis is terrible and he has pissed off everyone to the left and to the right. It takes a special kind of idiot to do that.
      - staunton 3y ago
        It's amazing to have people on such a forum who can give some insights. Could you perhaps write a longer response outlining how you see what happened there? How he pissed off everyone? Was it his policies? Was it how he communicated them? Was it both? For a while, is seemed as though the Greek government was going to go through with it. I don't have the expertise or context to judge if they should have or not, or if they even really could have tried in the first place. It just seems that the crisis was canned and is simmering now to see another day...
- seydor 3y ago
  Everything was disastrous about his term, and the disaster was both unnecesary and stupid. We had capital controls, our banks became non-grata overnight internationally, i couldn't pay for my servers , even paypal put restrictions for a while, and it was such a high stakes gamble that nobody in their right mind would think it work. V. gambled a country for his own personal vendettas, which is something unforgivable. But i blame more the people who voted for him without seeing through to his transparent pathological narcissism
panick21_ 3y ago
I generally not a big fan of Varoufakis but his idea of using NGDP Indexed Debt restructuring did actually make a lot of of sense in the situation that Greek was. But this was prevented by Germany and co. And it was his the greek premier who eventually made a deal that Varoufakis and most Greeks didn't agree with.
deleted 3y ago
[deleted]
huijzer 3y ago
I don’t get why this ad hominem is the highest voted post. Probably you’re right and Varoufakis has a questionable reputation, but that doesn’t automatically mean that his book is of poor quality. Having said that, I don’t think the essay is very strong. The author seems to be using binary thinking and only brings arguments up that are in favor of his main arguments. With some critical thinking, it’s fairly easy to come up with counter arguments during the read.

iamsaitam 3y ago

Please elaborate on the everlasting effects of his disastrous campaign as Greece's finance minister.

staunton 3y ago

What exactly is disastrous about his term? He pushed for certain unorthodox policies, which may or may not have been economically prudent, but his boss decided not to go for them after all when pressured by the EU, at which point Varoufakis resigned because his political bit was over.

inglor_cz 3y ago
Policies can't be divorced from reality, especially if you are a finance minister of a vulnerable, small, broke nation in hands of giants.
- staunton 3y ago
  I totally agree with what you're saying. However, does it apply to Varoufakis? Can you cite sources or outline an argument that his policies actually were divorced from reality? What would have happened if the Greek government had not backed down? Would it have been worse than what's slowly happening now? (Honest questions, I don't know enough economics to judge)
YeGoblynQueenne 3y ago
>> What exactly is disastrous about his term? He gambled with the fortunes of an entire country just to satisfy his ego. I'm Greek and I watched the events of the disastrous Greek delegation to Europe unfold from abroad, the UK where I'm an immigrant. Varoufakis was such an obvious clown, devoid of every possible sense of reality, let alone any kind of competence in technical matters, that he made me appreciate Angela fucking Merkel. That's right. I'm Greek and watching Varoufakis interact with Merkel, I ended up admiring Merkel. That's how disastrous was his term.
- elktown 3y ago
  People really need to stop using "I'm X, and I therefore I know". No. You're just as likely, maybe even more, of being politically invested. "I'm American so I know this Democrat/Republican is a freckin liar!" makes just as little sense.
  - YeGoblynQueenne 3y ago
    Note well what I wrote: >> I'm Greek and I watched the events of the disastrous Greek delegation to Europe unfold from abroad, the UK where I'm an immigrant. I don't know better because I'm Greek. I paid attention because I'm Greek. But, also: native language, better grasp of context. Don't understimate that. Yes, I have a better chance to know better than anyone who isn't Greek and that's what it is. Finally, I'm a leftie. I am politically invested: on his side. But even so, Varoufakis is terrible and he has pissed off everyone to the left and to the right. It takes a special kind of idiot to do that.
    - staunton 3y ago
      It's amazing to have people on such a forum who can give some insights. Could you perhaps write a longer response outlining how you see what happened there? How he pissed off everyone? Was it his policies? Was it how he communicated them? Was it both? For a while, is seemed as though the Greek government was going to go through with it. I don't have the expertise or context to judge if they should have or not, or if they even really could have tried in the first place. It just seems that the crisis was canned and is simmering now to see another day...
seydor 3y ago
Everything was disastrous about his term, and the disaster was both unnecesary and stupid. We had capital controls, our banks became non-grata overnight internationally, i couldn't pay for my servers , even paypal put restrictions for a while, and it was such a high stakes gamble that nobody in their right mind would think it work. V. gambled a country for his own personal vendettas, which is something unforgivable. But i blame more the people who voted for him without seeing through to his transparent pathological narcissism

panick21_ 3y ago

I generally not a big fan of Varoufakis but his idea of using NGDP Indexed Debt restructuring did actually make a lot of of sense in the situation that Greek was. But this was prevented by Germany and co. And it was his the greek premier who eventually made a deal that Varoufakis and most Greeks didn't agree with.

deleted 3y ago

[deleted]

huijzer 3y ago

I don’t get why this ad hominem is the highest voted post. Probably you’re right and Varoufakis has a questionable reputation, but that doesn’t automatically mean that his book is of poor quality. Having said that, I don’t think the essay is very strong. The author seems to be using binary thinking and only brings arguments up that are in favor of his main arguments. With some critical thinking, it’s fairly easy to come up with counter arguments during the read.