As an econ PhD, I just wish we had more professors like Yanis everywhere. After a 1.5 hour lecture, I was just sad it ended! I hope we can all share and contribute to realizing Yanis' dream of a brighter future for all!!
@@seandavey7085 Ideology is like that, when in primordial soup form, we can only feel the frevor it brings at the same time unable to point at what's so special.
I think this musical documentary "Obey": Temujin Doran (StudioCanoe) taught me economic history in 1.5 hour entertainment (the music will save your from tears)
“Imagine that you are representing some (Political) party, (on TV) and your interlocutor (dialogue partner) from an opposite party says something smart which you hadn’t thought of, suddenly you agree. But what you agree with now goes against the grain of your own party, if you admit it you are out, you are finished. This is why you have an inbuilt process of a dialogue of the deaf, in politics.” - Yanis Varoufakis 7:15
He is also guilty of this. That’s why he supports all this mass migration at the same time as being fully aware that Greece can’t pay for it. He admitted as much when he was finance minister. He knows it’s not possible but won’t speak against it.
@@focast1825 They all ignore and are silent about the fact that the most developed countries are responsible for mass migration. Afghanistan is the most recent example. We keep shipping weapons around the world and in countries that certifiably opress their people. As long as the benjamins keep flowing, no politician will ever ask the hard questions. It might damage their reputation/destroy their careers. I am really fed up with the apathy of reason in world politics.
@@over-cn7qw After the economics of Politics, became a dominant feature of the system, the voice of reason, from humans of lesser incomes, became unable to be heard..... The size of the economics has influenced the ability of the majority to influence the conversation of economics in our contemporary social system. Democracy coming from Greece in the form of study of the economics of politics, illustrates how the money dictates the terms that the majority of humans at one time were able to overcome. The concept of populism faces Economics as it attempts to overcome the corruption that Fiat Dollars has enabled.....
@@scotthardy6485 more like psychotic gaslighting girlfriend who "knows whats best for you": blog.youtube/inside-youtube/the-four-rs-of-responsibility-raise-and-reduce
I always had the distinct feeling as a Mathematics and Economics college student, that I was really just looking at cute mathematical formulas that were fairly simplistic and then someone made some wild assumptions about how the human brain functions individually and collectively to come to some crazy conclusions. But I just shup up, showed up for my tests, and patted myself on the back for managing to get a degree in a subject that is considered valuable to some degree. Of course in reality, I knew that I was in some pseudoscience mix of philosophy and sociology, but worse since it takes its shit so seriously and the math, simplistic though it is for anyone with a math backround, is just complicated enough to make people look smarter than they are. I gave up trying to understand this feeling or explain it besides concluding that it all is so complicated at some point but that surely a computer will be able to solve everything and factor in unexplained factors eventually. As I got older I realized for sure the human brain assumptions are so wildly off target for the reality of what I was seeing. This guy nails it on the head explaining so clearly why this feeling was happening for me and why it will always be there for anyone with a math backround and some level of critical thinking skills during an economics class, that has their brains functioning even slightly. We might as well be studying the stars and then making economic policy based on that.
You wouldn’t believe it how many economic (and for that matter political decisions) are based on astrology. The difference between economics and astrology is that the star gazers usually get it right. Trust me, I know this because I am an astrologer albeit I am no expert in so- called mundane astrology (the branch that deals with politics and economics).
I'm also an economics major. I was actually contemplating whether I should study economics, physics or mathematics and I end up choosing economics. I realise the more I study economics, the more cynical I become towards the subject. Sometimes I think I should've went with my first instincts and study applied mathematics instead but it's too late for me to change course now. I had the exact same thought as Yanis with regards to the simple equilibrium model in comparative statics so I went on to search about comparative dynamics. Turns out there's a paper that's written by Paul Samuelson in 1941 about comparative dynamics but it was never introduced to the economics undergraduate curricula in ANY university. Why is this the case? Is it because simple models are easy to understand and convenient to teach? Where's approximation theory, dynamical systems, entropy, complex adaptive system that seems to me more useful and effective mathematical tools (if economist are so determined to model economic phenomena) in studying economic and social systems. Trying to "predict" individual behaviour as we do in constrained optimization is a futile endeavour. It makes more sense to me to focus the mathematics of complexity and dynamical system and apply it to economics at the _aggregate_ level, rather than _individual_ level, to yield more meaningful results. I also wonder why isn't the humanities side of economics being emphasised enough (or at all in some universities like mine). Why isn't the history of economic thought being taught as a core subject in university? Where is the human aspect of economics? Where's the historical, sociological, psychological, political and philosophical aspect of economics? Aren't we studying humans and not atoms and molecules? Why is only math being emphasised, yet emphasised on branches of math that isn't that helpful to economics, and the human aspect is totally being disregarded. This all seems counter productive to the study of economics which is the study of humans' behaviour that aren't quantifiable. So it seems to me that economics undergraduate curricula teaches the wrong (or simplified/unrealistic) mathematics, WAY too little emphasis is placed on the human side of economics and the subjects becoming more ideological rather than seeking the objective truth. That being said I still enjoy the subject, just don't enjoy that false theories being presented as the truth, and I wish to study all the way to PhD to become an academic economist to reform economics.
@@dariuschong4574 I am 33 now, and having changed career paths so, so many times in my life since undergraduate school (I am now actually a farmer!), I want to encourage you to say it is never too late to change course in life, re-evaluate, and do something else if we are feeling frustrated with our subject. Our minds like to cling to the idea society tells us, that once we make choices a-b-c, it logically leads to choice d... what if instead, we actually come to realize that there was no choice in the first place, and every waking moment offers us a new chance to change the course of our lives? It is an incredibly freeing way to live, and surpressing our "logical" minds that comes up with all sorts of excuses in relation to finances or commitments doesn't understand the reality that THERE REALLY IS ONLY ONE LIFE HERE AND WE ALL ARE GOING TO DIE! Which actually leads to an interesting point that is a common thread in taught in economics, that all people are making choices from a point of selfishness/in their own self interests. What happens when I stop myself, notice where my thoughts are going, and conciously use my will to decide to think something different instead? I have changed my life and way of thinking so many times in life that it is very easy to realize how ridiculously simplified the thought that everyone is working in their own self interest is. The world is so incredibly complex and beautiful, so complex that it can never be mapped out or understood in the entirety, and that is the beauty of it all! So when I read your reply and find you frustrated with your major, and especially you working from a point of negativity ("this subject has major issues, and I want to reform it because of that"), I would encourage you to find a subject or idea in life that allows you to work from a place of positivity. It makes life a lot easier and is a lot more enjoyable really, and leads to a lot of joy and happiness to think positive thoughts and work in a field that breeds positivity, instead of working from a negative place and trying to "fix" everything, which of course we know never happens and never will happen. Nice to read your post, I also contemplated being a physics major, but I realize now probably the best decision I could have made wasn't deciding which major would lead to which path I went down in life, but understanding and having the confidence to step outside my own mathematical/logical based mind to realize how beautiful life is and how wonderful it can be to start fresh with something new when our old paths in life feel "stale."
@@nineallday000 Well realistically speaking, it's quite difficult for me to change course right now due to various factors... It's not that I don't like economics. You see, economics is about learning how people make choices to maximise their satisfaction given a certain set of constraints. I've read several books about economics and I thought some of these problems that economics is trying to solve is not just interesting but important as well. Economic theories have the ability to impact thousands, if not, millions of lives around the world. Keynesian economics have impacted billions of people all over the world now. So I see economics have a more direct impact on society as opposed to mathematics or physics. What I find frustrating is that the university economics education doesn't actually teaches you what the subject intends to teach you. I'm learning about make believe fairytales (assume this, assume that, consumers are rational, more is always better, no information failure, perfect competition, etc.) rather than truly understanding how the world works or how humans behave. Economics professors nowadays aren't critical thinkers themselves despite having decades of experience along with their PhD. They're being indoctrinated by neoclassical economics ONLY and presenting ONLY one out of the nine school of thoughts in economics to their students. They teach students about these models as if they're fundamental laws of physics and most students seems to just accept them and not think about the implications behind the mathematics. When I listen to people like Yanis Varoufakis and Ha Joon Chang, read books like Poor Economics or Capital by Thomas Piketty, I get a breath of fresh air, I become interested in the subject. I _know_ there's more to economics rather than just dull 19th century mathematics used to solve constrained optimization problems which reflects nothing in real life. I'll just continue reading and learning more about economics outside of classroom to keep myself motivated and stay curious. It just seems to me that there is so much more to economics than what we're being taught in university. I fancy the idea that one day I'll be working on things beyond mainstream economics.
Yanis lecture’s main argument is about introducing a pluralistic approach in teaching economics. As it stands now, major universities all over teach students only the orthodox paradigm of neoclassical economics and have abandoned all together the history of economic thought. He says loud and clear, let’s change this agenda and expose students to every school of thought without any prejudice and allow them to judge what is right and what’s wrong. Being myself an economist I know very well how young economists are indoctrinated with mainstream neoliberal nonsense with the disastrous results of adopted policies around the world.
it definitely sounds like a good fix to economical maximalism. It should at least teach kids to be more critical of the current turbo capitalist norms, and it should at the same time safeguard againsts left wing excesses. To me it sounds sane, practical and very very liberal, in the classical open knowledge sense. The only problem here is that he is 1 man, we need more, and the kids don't know to ask for this
Most people do not go to school to become researchers or scientists. They go to school to get the tools which would allow them to accumulate Wealth for themselves. (I want to know the stuff that gets me money) Researcher and Scientist must learn to write books, proposals and deliver lectures so that somebody with Wealth would give them the opportunity to study ALL approaches to economics, etc. What is the role of schools in a society ? It must be to make you Wealthier than the others, not to make you a cheap labor source for the Professors, as most commonly is the case.
@@reasonerenlightened2456 Yeah that's poison to humanity and very selfish, how many people want to work on anything just to acquire wealth? or they are forced to work? You don't think humans would want to use their habilities for the help of everybody in a world were you basic needs safe, and have some money to spend? what a reasoning...
@@edh615 The engineering task is to make Laws and Legislation resulting in a generous, altruistic, humane, just society made of selfish, petty, greedy, backstabbing, treacherous, vindictive, self-absorbed individuals.
Having studied economics at Uni, Yanis described my studies perfectly. Neo classical was all we learnt. Thats it. And I remember feeling confused because the theory gave me more questions than it answered.
I started off as an Economics major but changed to political science when my Econ classes put me in the same situation as you. While I do not have an econ degree, I still very much consider myself an economist. Yanis has answered so many of my questions and has given me a path forward towards my graduate and doctorate pursuits. So glad I found him.
yanis used to be a profesor for the university of Athens , this is where i am studying economics right know and we are actually using his book there. Here we are learning a lot more than the mainstream neoclassical staff .
"The 1st piece of education, there's no authority " That's very wise. We the students have the right to be told that it's ok to think outside the box or against the mainstream model. Thank you sharing this conference.
This attitude is very common among Swedish students , that is "there's no authority". We are thought to think and read critically. But, this is not always the case of course.
When Yanis starts speaking of software giants like Facebook and free channels of communication being free because the supplier sees it as a means of manipulation I think of the following phrase: "If something is free, YOU are the product".
Like when New York Times gave a generation bad health advise. It was free, uncritical readers were the product, sold to big pharma. Then Facebook, Reddit etc came, and people tried figuring out the truth from the lies. But the disbalanced power relations make it an unstoppable binary fire pit of truth and lies. Money printer goes brrrr....
@@vasilykatuma5689 One thing is for sure, the capital will always search for the cheapest labour. This is called race to the bottom. That is what the world is doing, and the governments can compete, who is able to provide the best conditions for investment. The ultimate best for them is slave labour. Unfortunatelly Yanis is a leftist, and he cares about his country's working conditions, and that example is a dangerous one for the international investors. That is why they crushed syriza. People should not see, that There Could be an Alternative. Only allowed and promoted alternative is far right, which is disaster capitalism with no human rights. For me, I would not blame him, if a 1000 job leaves the country. He is just working to build resistance against the inhumane system, that destroys our planet. But they didn't punish him with that 1000, they just democratically imposed credit line freeze against them, just to ensure, that everybody understands, the democracy is just the blue color of their flag, but nothing more.
Commenting for algorithm! But also- I’m a high school drop out and don’t have enough money to get any more formal education. I watch many lectures to improve my understanding of the world. Thank you so much for the upload.
Dr Yanis Varoufakis is a talented thinker in our time. He talks for the rest of us, I wish he was the head of the UN. Please teach us more you are an invaluable asset. Thank you. Australia
27:59 "There is no authority, no expert, in pointing out which school of thought is right or not." "Economics is much closer to philosophy than it is to science."
@@alfredofloyd and you really should study something about maths, statitics, econometrics and economics. Pedantic and arrogant! Did I hurt you cause you're a philosopher?
@@alfredofloyd If economics is similar to a religion, philosophers are priests that do not believe in God but they create their own religion and only believe in their own abstract thought( without any empirical evidence). Philosophers of science are the ones that wonder if something can be considered science or not in the meanwhile phisicists, chemists even economists try to understand the reality and solve practical proplems
That's cute; you're under the impression that's not already true for anyone who's a first year econ student, plus, market fundamentalism is already the world's secular religion. More, more, more...nothing's ever good enough for the ruling classes.
Hi I'm a first year student here in Greece,studying economics in EKPA...the thing is that he hasn't shown up at all even though he is supposed to be a professor.
You should really check out what's going on in Mexico. AMLO is trying to separate economic from political power. The elites, from unscrupulous local businessmen to the international press are trying to derail his plans. Quite a case study.
@@goxdie000 Same thing happened in South Africa under Nelson Mandela in the 90s. He literally sold out the country. The same "privatization" has been happening in the U.S., and the "Great Reset" is about to make it official and global.
@@omegablack7135 I mean, in Mexico it's quite the opposite, but international media simply writes off anti-privatization measures as "populist". That's why we don't hear it in the rest of the world, but we gotta unite in the correct path.
@@goxdie000 oh, I totally misunderstood. If that's the case it reminds me of the Zapatistas, and yes, we must unite againat the corporate forces of death.
@@andrasdudas8226 I'm ok with translating it to Portuguese but last time I did something similar they could facilitate the text in English so I could work with it. Should I translate the autogenerated subtitles? How do I send the final text back?
@@farrider3339 He tried that in Greece as minister of Finance and failed miserably. Even his own radical left party realized that his plans were ridiculous and replaced him. His idea of an economic plan, was to threaten the E.U, that if Greece goes bankrupt, the EU would collapse economically. His plan to "save" the EU was by giving him a blank check with money from the ECB.
@@kostbad : the way me remember Y.V. story - He tried to blackmail "aLL the rest" with the threat of leaving € . Which is a tactical move in the first place. When negotiations begin or better prior to that the opponents create (!) a mass for the negotiations about which one is willing to debate upon and reduce the absolute content in the course of the negotiations. Rocket-man 🇰🇵 does exactly the same , but there's nobody there that would seriously negotiate on this with him. Except 🇨🇳 who is kinda nanny for dangerous paranoid dictator Kim. Me nOt sure whether an ordinary politician has a comparable comprehension of economix and the financial market these days. Me doubt that emphatically. The narrative created by both sides in retrospective , is highly questionable and debatable (ad nauseum). The way Y.V. sees himself is more like a door opener to a different mode of tinkink 💭 and dealing with the issue of money 💵💸 flying around the virtual 🌐 sphere of global finance market system. Of course none whatsoever liked his proposal's. And the 🇬🇷 political establishment , i'm sure , did some nice offers to leftists on a personal level (💵💵). So Y.V. left the scenery. He himself said the 🇬🇷 demos didn't vote for Syriza party because they wanted left agenda in their country , they voted left for banging those in charge up to this point. Maybe You have somting to add or correct. Me onlY live on hear say. Me wasn't present in any of the green rooms .•°
@@kostbad False. He did not "try" anything in Greece because his own Prime Minister who appointed him betrayed him and stabbed him in the back by rolling over in submission to the EU capitalist banks and their austerity demands.
yes. Dr. Ramani once wrote that advertisers (aka propagandist) make better psychologists than actual psychologists. they understand us so well they can shape us. thats what the surveillance is actually for. to improve the algorithm and keep us consuming content. attention is currency now
Edward Bernays was the nephew of Sigmund Freud and applied Freud's insights in order to create Public Relations as we know it today. Bernays was in Europe after WW2 and wondered how the subconscious could be used in times of peace. "Edward Bernays and Group Psychology" on YT.
Every few months I rewatch this Video. This one of the best economics lectures that I have watched in my whole life. The history of economics and the examples Yanis uses are very great and this helped me understand a lot of the theories and case studies I read in economics books. I have also got understanding of the world around me better.
i want to push the midwest power industry towards decentralization and hold the monopoly accountable. learning more and more everyday before graduating. needed this talk today. thanks Yanis
@@orlindomachengo6556 NAh, I am talking about the neo-classical school, although the both share major things, such as the action axiom and other things, Neo-classical school is like an ostrict which dips its head into the sand to avoid trouble, AUSTRIAN SCHOOL IS MUCH RICHER THAN NEO-CLASSICAL, it uses time, capital, structure of production among other things, which neither neo-classical or keynesians do
@@vibhuvikramaditya4576 you are mistaken, you should deepen economic theories, austrian and neoclassical (mainstream economic theory) schools are irrelevant in the field of economics. Shumpeterian, developmentalist, Keynesian and heterodox theories are the best.
@@orlindomachengo6556 That is precisely my approach but I don't think any one field claims superiority over everyone else, I have read keynes himself, and his successors, I don't understand what you mean by developmentalist, but each has their own stronghold over certain areas, the problem that keynes and his successors run into is negation of capital, structure of production, and time, all these are richly developed in classicals like smith, ricardo even marx to an extent , but austrains have developed it the most, the more important point, I want to reconcile and synthesize every stream into one coherent set of logical structure, rigid dualities of right and wrong has no place in our discipline according to me, The neo-classical tools and their paradigms are also powerful in certain areas. I have a strong belief that in the end economics should reign supreme, so words like heterodox and traditional don't make much sense to me. Thus none of us should claim or live in the falacy of the notion that they have the exact version of the economic truth, instead look to search for truth with every possible lens available and then articulate as clearly as one can in either word, or mathematical statement.
I've been on a binge of Yanis Varoufakis lately and haven't been disappointed. He's such a great speaker that it makes me wish I was a better listener. Gonna need to read some of his books.
11:00 pluralisms necessary involvement in economics 29:00 opportunity cost from concepts of Adam Smith & unintended consequences that are necessary to reach a better public interest 31:18 from economics to capitalism
Yanis is absolutely right about the need for pluralism in economics, for better economic theories, and for better economic systems. And it’s great that Rethinking Economics is getting so much attention, as they are doing such important work! Along those lines, I have recently developed an alternative economic theory of business, markets, and profit for social-ecological sustainability. It's called Relationship-to-Profit Theory. I thought people who watch this video might be interested in it.
I love listening to Yanis, even though I disagree with him about many things. He feels like a guy i could ferociously argue with about his ideas for an hour with great intensity and then go to down to a bar for a friendly beer and jokes.
@@georgekaramanoglou2203 Well, as a representative he lacks the political way of agreeing to a lesser evil that could cause the death of people. He doesn't want to sign down a bill that could hurt people. We should have more people like him defending the better way whether or not the people in power would be mad at it, but I agree he may lack the art of making a deal, fundamental in today's politics that aggregate the decision power in singular persons
@@user-rx3ny9ji8i thats an easy way to get rid of him (too easy if you ask me. you have to try at least as he tries to get rid of him). .Yes, he is certainly good at this and very bad to help rich and corrupted people get richer and more powerfull through some crappy deal. he is probably the only one who knows what those deals are really about. Most politicians will just surrender to the establishment without even know what they surrender. Sorry for my english
It is. But honestly, with the pandemic and all the billionaires organized through the World Economic Forum new fallacy "Stakeholder Capitalism", the fuckers still win and we loose.
This was absolutely brilliant. As an American on the left interested in market socialism/funds socialism its very frustrating that there’s so much energy around socialism and opposing capitalism but it’s overall insanely unsophisticated and incoherent, lots of it is semi ironic Soviet nostalgia, pure moralizing without thought, many anachronistic features in thought and strategy. I’m not a historian but this seems like intellectually a great moment for socialist thought in terms of policy and it’s largely disconnected from the masses and elected politicans on the left. Maybe it’s different elsewhere. We need more of this and less dumb dumb left thoughtless outrage and fundamentalism
@@fatpotatoe6039 *anarcho-communism - which is a branch of liberalism that necessitates central power to be dissolved into the power of regional and local democracy Join your local food charity drive
@@fatpotatoe6039 no, libertarianism (in American meaning right libertarianism) is a childish system of legalized feudalism that would also be terrible for growth and stability, and it’s the opposite of everything he’s saying in this video. Unless you mean left libertarianism, which I used to align with but don’t think makes much sense now: you need a centralized state for some pretty fundamental things like environmental protection among others
Great lecture. Mr. Varoufakis is one of the FEW persons on the planet who really UNDERSTAND how modern economies work.. The bad thing is that he is not very vocal about the NATURE of modern economies and the people who run the show. The technochratic feudal lords of the 21st century.
Me recuerda mucho una frase mítica de méxico, de el General Emiliano Zapata: "La tierra es de quien la trabaja". Muchas gracias por compartir esta conferencia y la sesión de preguntas!
Excelente presentacion, me parece que es totalmente necesario lo que plantea Varoufakis, la economia debe ser enseñada en todas sus corrientes y con su contexto historico, yo creo que nadie podria estar en contra de que te entreguen toda la informacion para luego con ella tomar tus propias decisiones, es lo que deberia ser en todo orden de cosas.
Yanis speaks the only language I understand. It is hard to explain the patriotism of the Boston Tea Party which boarded ships flying the flag of the East Company and they were the merchants of Boston and Montreal and tea was untaxed and belonged to the East India Company. I don't know what else other than mercantilism they were patriotic about. A magnificent lecture.
Sorry, Yannis is a sympathetic guy for sure but this is really 100% bladderdibla. No idea what he is talking about. Something about Capitalism and banks being the evil cause of everything in general and by extension of what happened to Greece. No Yannis. Greece was doing just fine with its weak Drachma which perfectly accommodates its relative modest competitive labour force to compete with northern Europe and made tourism relatively attractive. In came the Communists of the EU who imposed the EURO onto the poor greeks and prevented them to simply print their own currency like they used to. The greeks had to resort to lending and made good use of the lower Euro interest rates lending gigantic amounts to fulfill idiotic promises to the people by corrupt national leaders. Soon national bond rates started to rise. Then the Marxist EU again intervened and disrupted the markets by lowering the Greek rates artificially by forcing other countries to take there loans on far too low rates. The Greeks lost their competitive advantage of a weak currency and had to debase their incomes nominally to compete internationally which caused lower tax incomes making the high debts even more unsustainable. Don't blame capitalism. If markets where left alone, Greece would have defaulted and be prosperous at this very moment. The Marxist Euro is the Procrustes bed of Europe. It fits no-one and everybody suffers as a consequence. If we don't abandon the Euro in its current form, the European dream will fall apart...
@@RWin-fp5jn You are simply ignorant about the character of the Euro and the EU as a whole. You're using political labels you don't understand. There is nothing "Marxist" about demanding privatisation of public services, imposing limits on public spending, driving member states into a race to the bottom to reduce corporate taxes and wages, deregulating consumer safety standards etc. - all of which the EU has been doing for the last 30 years or so. The EU is a neoliberal project, particularly after Maastricht. It's the opposite of any sort of Marxist or even broadly left-wing economic vision. The Euro in particular has been used as a mechanism to expand and consolidate the dominance of export-based Northern economies, Germany in particular, over structurally weaker countries in the South. The former trapped the latter in a vicious circle of indebtness. It's a perfect illustration of how stronger countries will always seek to exploit the weaker ones, which is a key feature of capitalism. That's why a truly united Europe is not possible on a capitalist basis.
@@VladimirBrtn For your info : all EU countries suffer form the terrible transfer union that is now a reality. Italians per capita have 3x more private reserves (housing is often mortgage free) then Germans yet the Italian state (and Spanish) is poor and does not show ANY initiative anymore to collect taxes since the north is paying for their social costs (basic income). They never collected taxes since they were used to print money and not borrow .It is a disaster for every country. Only the Euro politburo an Euro Douma and the tens of thousands of bureaucrats are celebrating golden times. It is quite a prison for every one and this cannot last ....It is very very sad...It used to be such a great and wonderful continent in all its diversity...And sorry, the entire construct was driven by extreme Marxist principle of forcing a non elected EU commission body on all EU citizens and a disastrous currency which did not make ANY economic sense, other then the political aspiration of the elites to force Europe into a super state . Untold millions sufferd and will suffer because it is a horrible marxist pipe dream. The north was doing fantastic prior to the Euro (as did the south) , no need to export slightly more against cheaper prices certainly if that means our banks and pension funds where forced by the ECB to take southern bonds at far to high prices. politicians never learn....
@@RWin-fp5jn If you don't understand something doesn't mean it has no meaning. I am what might be called a savant. I can't do a lot of normal things but I speak the language of moral and linguistic philosophy. I am in my 70s and I know all the words . Yanis puts them together so I understand them. I may be retarded but Yannis speaks the only language that defines my epistemology. I looked up capitalism in Johnson's dictionary. Capitolism is the metaphysics of a society. Every society is capitalistic. America is evolving from neoliberalism which worked until we entered an age where we could control data far beyond human understanding. Neoliberalism and a gig economy has given us the rule of the far less than 1% leaving the word democracy without a home in America's hegemony. In the gig economy data is power. Jeff Bezos is the richest man because he owns the most data not the most gold. Wisdom has no price you can't buy it. The gig economy makes public private and private public. Epistemological change makes fundamental change mandatory.
@@RWin-fp5jn Yanis actually protested in opposition to Greece joining the EU, he explicitly talks about this in several of his talks, he agrees almost entirely with your economic analysis, except one crucial point. You say "Don't blame capitalism. If markets where left alone, Greece would have defaulted and be prosperous at this very moment." Now we could say its all semantics, leftists call bad things "capitalist" and libertarians call bad things "socialist" because they interfere in markets, but we agree on what the bad thing is. Yanis argues that the reason Greece and other nations joined the EU, part of the reason, is precisely because of this economic logic that says "leave markets alone" - join this monetary union, open your markets up, deregulate everything, and there will be prosperity. They tried it, some massive proportion of public assets in Greece have been sold, they embraced austerity and everything you mentioned, and now they have one of worse economic crises of modern times.
@@BC-hb7vj How was he the issue in any of that conflict? he had a deal with his prime minister Alexis (deterrent plan) and Alexis backed out even though the population spoke (you had a vote) which Alexis still ignored. Alexis ignored a deal he made with Yanis before he became minister of finance, that the public also voted and agreed with, yet Yanis is to blame? You realize the alternative deal was a massive ass blast? he's the only guy in government with some of his team that stood up for your country with the support of the population, but then your prime minister backed out and agreed to the ass blast anyway. It's not Yanis that failed you. This is why he resigned in the end as well, so it wouldn't be him that signed the deal because that's how much he disagreed with how your prime minister behaved.
this was easily one of the most informative + inspiring things I've ever seen, I've just finished watching it for the 2nd time, and I'm really excited to now get the book, Yanis' references to the late 1700s are a terribly relevant example from recent-ish history, so powerful to think we may be on the brink of undoing the current cloud-shackles - I'm really grateful to be able to have access to the thoughts of incredible thinkers around history/economics/revolutionary ideas like this, it's really exciting to think we're potentially only one small revolution away from a far more equitable social situation, given how "globalised" the world asserts to being... it really sounds possible that enough people can agree around the world.. that we don't want to be cloud serfs, maybe more that we want to have a share of the profits being sourced from technological growth. no longer should the risks be socialised with profits privatised, the more people that learn this key human right the better I think. thank you yanis, pls i rly hope that people see the sense in this information..
@@katianna7306 Thanks, I just wanted to comment the same, you were faster... ;-) At least, this was the accusation of the state against Socrates, that led to a fake-trial, and his death...
How this is an amazing talk. Only wish I could take his regular classes! So passionate and beautifully reasoned. I think that this kind of academics is sorely missing from leftist discourse.
its a question of power, if you have power you can interpret the numbers as you like, and make them reality to have financial or political power means to make YOUR reality into EVERYONE's reality
Bravo and compliments on your courage to challenge arrogant neoliberal economics in germany. A remarkable lecture with many insights. The last answer, about the inability of economics to even apprehend so-called “externalities” such as environmental problems, reveals our alienation from the world. We need to challenge the orthodoxy. How about an economics whose first principle is “abundance” instead of “scarcity”? I look forward to youtube posts from your conference in April!
Many valuable take-away's from this lecture. Mr Varoufakis is a very enlightened man. I'd never thought of Maxwell's equations as the beginning of capitalism. Amazing.
as someone with zero knowledge of economy who came here very randomly this just gave me an existential crisis, but i think i liked it thank you now i will have to process it
@@jineshwarnariani8966 ‘08 killed Economics and Finance replaced it. Economics tried to imitate Physics by having laws and it failed badly. In the real world, the models that economics teaches you are useless because society is always changing and adapting, humans are not like atoms, they learn, meaning you always need new models to explain past behaviour. Economics was a hot and respected subject before ‘08, mostly glorified by people that knew nothing about it and I was fooled. While I was studying it I was also trying to apply it to the markets, and Lord behold they didn’t behave at all as the Economics said they should. It’s all bullshit. Get a STEM degree that has some real world usage and don’t waste your time with Economics.
Thank you Yanis for your excellent lecture and presentation. This seminar was enlightening and seminal from my perspective. Much appreciated. ⭐️⭐️⭐️⭐️⭐️. 🙏👏👍💥
Plato is born again it is very good that we have such philosophers. We have the moral duty to make a dignified life possible for all people. Let people starve to death just because of greed is unacceptable, if we allow that, anarchy will rule
The whole thing is important, as it is an analysis of the failure of supply/demand models for labor prices, and to understand debts and money creation in banks, this is the essence of capitalism (but it doesn't appear in economics books).
Where he wants to take us does not sound too bad in its destination. What will happen to get there pragmatically? How is it even possible? What necessary ugly events might occur? How must they be responded to? How will they more likely be responded to?
Where can I read more about the proposals Mr. Varoufakis makes at the end of the talk? The triple bank account, the land evaluation and taxation and such? The latter part seems to be a form of georgism?
Wait, are there different models? I thought the fact that most of the world works together on science would mean they all have the same basic model of the universe. So many important unifying theories it's near impossible to get where we are today without using the shortcuts of those that came before.
@@fisharepeopletoo9653 There are many unify theories. I know as minimum 3 absolutely different theories that explain 'Dark matter" try very different physics for example, with different theory of gravity.
@@fisharepeopletoo9653 Google "atom in a box", and check out the software. Thats the latest model in the west of the atom, which will be unlike anything you've seen befors most likely
great talk learned a lot. i love how he deconstructs the absurdity of the mythmatics/mathiness concepts bad economists use. also, the occupy movement increased class consciousness which is the first step in changing the world. these things happen in waves
@SCH be like water - Regarding "bad economists" it seems to me that such people construct many "wonderful shiny ivory towers of logic" without troubling themselves to even bother to do something as basic as carry out REALITY testing - or consider the consequences to others ! ! !
The example at 22:54 is not wholly a matter of interpretation and partially omits some important market factors. The businessman, buying in a good year, when prices are lower, will probably have bought a significant quantity of corn which will increase the demand in the good year, making the farmers a higher revenue, which can be used to balance out the loss in the bad year - if the businessman didn't buy a significant quantity during the good years he most likely wouldn't be able to move the market price during a bad year.
But I like his approach to teaching he talked about after that example. I fully support his method of teaching many economic theories instead of just one, it helps the students in developing an open mind instead of caging their thoughts with just one theory to explain everything.
A clear proposal on "what to do" is just what we lack in this terrible times, usually intellectuals are good at pointing problems, but hardly ever they give answers. A future like the one Varoufakis propose is a beautiful one, but is human nature to preserve the status quo, and more over is human nature to preserve power when you got it. "Fortunately" this power is, day by day, in the hands of fewer people, making them increasingly identifiable. If you want a future similar to what Yanis is imagining, now is the time to share video like this one, is inconceivable that we have "tranding" such idiotic things and video like this one got so little exposure. Thanks DiEM25
@@aylbdrmadison1051 I couldn't agree more, fear bring aggressivity ,and aggressivity bring the polarization of ideas to the "logical" conclusion of violence. Fear of change, of the other, is the reason why we can't talk with each other anymore, any idea MUST be the opposite of the other, so we loose all the shades in between...and in spite of everything I said my friend...I'm a bit scared myself...
Thats why Thomas Piketty in my opinion has the best solution to date. I can cite the general ides here: " In order to properly adress the social & environmental challenges of our time, one needs to go beyond capitalism and the sacralization of private propert (over natural resources, over knowledge, etc.). Educational Justice: effective and verifiable. (More investment in public education. The diffusion of knowledge and skills to people who dont have rich parents. Very effective in minimizing inequality) Social Et temporary property: we need to balance owners rights with workers rights (extension of german-nordic co-management model), to favor the permanent circulation of power and property. (Inheritance for all equal to 120 000€ at the age of 25 for instance), and to limit individual accumulations to a reasonable magnitude (on the basis of historical experiments) Socialdemocracy post WW2. Social-federalism: free exchange must be made conditional upon binding objectives regarding social, fiscal and environmental justice" Basically he's saying we need to build on the socialdemocratic welfare state were it left off in the 70-80's and take it further. Wealth taxes, inheritance taxes reintroduced among other things.
@@maxion5109 This is very interesting, I come from one of the European countries where socialism took hold quite deeply in the 70's culture, a lot of the welfare we still got today came from there (free healthcare, payed holidays, employment contracts in favour of workers), I can see that the world is trying to change in a direction similar to that described by Piketty (if I remember correctly) in "Capital and ideology", my only concern is that those those who are proposing this change (th-cam.com/video/uPYx12xJFUQ/w-d-xo.html), are the same people who created the problem in the first place, should we entrust the future to those who have ruined the present? Or maybe it is better to entrust things to someone who has shown loyalty to his ideology from the beginning? Like Varoufakis for example...
As a commerce student in university my question is at 26:00 he talks about the capitalist who stocks up excess quantity of food in the good crop to sell during the bad crop times. Yes, the price is stabilized but the farmers selling less crops don’t get the benefit of increased price, but assuming this is an efficient wouldn’t every farmer latch on to this and just stock up on extra crops themselves and not have them for sale or sell them at a premium to the ‘capitalist’? The farmers may not have the same capital but they have the infrastructure to pull this off. We also have not gone over the perishabîity and feasibility of this example but I think for simplicity it was left out of the question.
"Where the mind is without fear and the head is held high Where knowledge is free Where the world has not been broken up into fragments By narrow domestic walls Where words come out from the depth of truth Where tireless striving stretches its arms towards perfection Where the clear stream of reason has not lost its way Into the dreary desert sand of dead habit Where the mind is led forward by thee Into ever-widening thought and action Into that heaven of freedom, my Father, let my country awake." By Rabindranath Tagore
I'm glad that he makes the point of markets being markets, and not only a product of any said economic system. It's perfectly clear that the current system is and have always been in opposition to democracy by it's very nature. So we should all look into economics from another perspective, making it serve our needs instead of shaping us to serve the economy.
Is it possible that a good thing that has come out of the pandemic and subsequent lockdowns and that is that so many more people (such as me) have now time to listen to lectures like these and inform ourselves about deeper issues that should concern us.
There is mistake in subtitles 1:16:21. He says CDOs which is Collateralised Debt Obligations but subtitles says Credit Default Swaps. In fact these two are completely opposite.
most brilliant lecture. worth watching not only once...Big thanks for uploading. And big thanks to the algorithm for recommending it for a third re-watch.. which I am doing right now with pleasure. . : ]
46:00 medieval peasants were quite capable of leaving, actually. Sure, you had to avoid the baron's soldiers, but there weren't many and you knew the land better. And usually the baron of the land you're moving to wouldn't mind another worker as long as you didn't start trouble, so you were welcomed, on the rare occasion that they cared enough to count their peasants, they usually just counted houses at tax time. Edit to add: Thanks, this was interesting.
Yes this part was very oversimplified, serfs could buy their way out freedom or prove that they were yeomen in court, they could also run away to towns whos people would usually take you in and after a while you'd be legally declared free, you could join the clergy or go on pilgrimage and just not come back, there were also just as many ways of becoming servile from a freeman usually also by choice. Yanis did never actually say whether he was talking about serfs yeomen slaves or bondsmen, he could've been talking about slaves or bondsmen in which case he is generally correct but the amount of slaves and bondsmen varies greatly between regions not like today where globalism turns most countries into the same models with different settings, in England I know that there were fewer slaves than serfs and after the Norman conquest slavery was transitioned to bonded servitude - you'd still be forced to work but you would have some money.
@@reasonerenlightened2456 work hard in a rigged and unfair system is useless. And really I don't want to get rich. I desire a peaceful and fulfilling live. I don't need much things for me to be well. And some times I cannot have a good night sleep knowing that misery, violence and injustice is upon other human beings like me. I feel like they are part of me. We must try to make a better world. Humankind is part of a living planet. The desire to get rich or greed is like a disease. Rich people are like a cancerous tumour in a organism. With a disproportionate size and destroying other living tissues only for his benefit. Taking more resources than they need to function normally. If we cannot build a balanced, fair, sustainable and healthy system, even the rich people will suffer from the disease of the system. It's only a matter of time. Doing good, makes us good.
From inside the electrified fence of a socialist re-education camp. And the U.S. is a Republic, not a Democracy. The difference is in Websters for your learning. Yes, critical thinking is critical. Start also questioning. Capitalism sounds like a bad thing to you, but almost everything you have and enjoy is due to capitalism. The problem is elsewhere, capitalism is a great tool when used properly. And this man is also a politician he told us as he smoothed over that with winsome ways and charming address. First impressions are not always right, actually, hardly ever. Oh WOW. He just said he is a Marxist!! This man is dangerous. Read up on Marxism. The parent to communism. Don't drink his koolaid!!!!
@@americanpatriot7247 but Marxism...as in what Karl Marx proposed is NOT what today's "anti socialist" like to claim as or often confuse with "neo Marxism".
if you really want to understand what Marx was saying...try reading what he wrote rather than listen to those with the desire to demonize his words and scare people into thinking he's dangerous...yes very dangerous to the corporate stranglehold on the economy and the working class slave labour.
@@americanpatriot7247 Funny the one who us permanently drunk on koolaid advising others 'not to drink it'. And you wouldn't recognise 'critical thinking' even if it slapped you in the face with a wet fish, since you are chocking in right wing shock jock shitty talking points.
Economics without capitalism emphasizes the potential for economies to operate with different principles such as communal ownership, cooperative models, and participatory economic structures that challenge the notion that markets must always be driven by private profit. It envisions systems where public resources and communal goods are managed in a way that prioritizes collective well-being and environmental sustainability. This approach can shift focus from wealth accumulation for a few to meeting the needs of the majority, addressing critical issues like poverty, inequality, and climate change. Markets without capitalism, on the other hand, recognize that while markets are powerful tools for resource allocation and innovation, they do not need to be tied exclusively to the capitalist model. These markets could function as platforms for fair trade, social enterprise, and ethical commerce. The goal would be to create systems where market mechanisms exist to facilitate equitable exchange without the underlying profit motive that often leads to exploitation and environmental degradation. One important aspect of this vision is the concept of "democratizing the economy," where decision-making processes are more inclusive and transparent, allowing communities to have a say in economic activities that impact their lives. This could involve transforming how corporations operate, implementing cooperative business models where workers and communities share in decision-making and profits, or fostering public ownership of key sectors such as healthcare and utilities. By ensuring that economic activities are aligned with social and environmental goals, we can move toward an economy that prioritizes sustainability and human dignity over sheer profit. Implementing markets without capitalism requires rethinking the role of policy, regulation, and corporate accountability. Governments and institutions would need to establish and enforce rules that prevent monopolistic practices, protect labor rights, and promote environmental stewardship. Policies that encourage worker cooperatives, social enterprises, and non-profit models can create an economic environment where competition thrives in a fair and equitable manner, free from the exploitative tendencies of capitalism. However, challenges exist in transitioning to a system where markets serve the common good rather than private interests. Resistance from entrenched economic powers, cultural norms favoring capitalism, and the complexity of transforming existing systems must be addressed. It would require a combination of grassroots movements, political will, and innovative thinking to create a market structure that balances efficiency with equity.
@1:25:36 ''You are assuming that people maximize something called utility'' '' Does this correspond to introspection? Is this what I do in life? '' ..... Hearing such words from a professor of economics is quite something ...
As an econ PhD, I just wish we had more professors like Yanis everywhere. After a 1.5 hour lecture, I was just sad it ended! I hope we can all share and contribute to realizing Yanis' dream of a brighter future for all!!
100% I'm not even into economics but this was amazing.
@@seandavey7085 Ideology is like that, when in primordial soup form, we can only feel the frevor it brings at the same time unable to point at what's so special.
I think this musical documentary "Obey": Temujin Doran (StudioCanoe) taught me economic history in 1.5 hour entertainment (the music will save your from tears)
You can translate the subs for your language. :-)
Awesome! In which field are you working?
“Imagine that you are representing some (Political) party, (on TV) and your interlocutor (dialogue partner) from an opposite party says something smart which you hadn’t thought of, suddenly you agree. But what you agree with now goes against the grain of your own party, if you admit it you are out, you are finished. This is why you have an inbuilt process of a dialogue of the deaf, in politics.” - Yanis Varoufakis 7:15
Totally agree this is a large problem in politics.
There is no compromise at all.
Actually, when you tell your oponent that he or she is right you might surprise him or her, which might help you to quickly counterstrick.
He is also guilty of this. That’s why he supports all this mass migration at the same time as being fully aware that Greece can’t pay for it. He admitted as much when he was finance minister. He knows it’s not possible but won’t speak against it.
@@focast1825 They all ignore and are silent about the fact that the most developed countries are responsible for mass migration. Afghanistan is the most recent example. We keep shipping weapons around the world and in countries that certifiably opress their people.
As long as the benjamins keep flowing, no politician will ever ask the hard questions. It might damage their reputation/destroy their careers.
I am really fed up with the apathy of reason in world politics.
@@over-cn7qw After the economics of Politics, became a dominant feature of the system, the voice of reason, from humans of lesser incomes, became unable to be heard.....
The size of the economics has influenced the ability of the majority to influence the conversation of economics in our contemporary social system.
Democracy coming from Greece in the form of study of the economics of politics, illustrates how the money dictates the terms that the majority of humans at one time were able to overcome.
The concept of populism faces Economics as it attempts to overcome the corruption that Fiat Dollars has enabled.....
Commenting for the algorithm to place me in a subset of users who watched this and similar content. Thanks algorithm
Damn, real algor hours
+1
@@scotthardy6485 more like psychotic gaslighting girlfriend who "knows whats best for you": blog.youtube/inside-youtube/the-four-rs-of-responsibility-raise-and-reduce
Liking comment so algorithm does the same. Thank you minions!
Also doing so by commenting on your post to piggyback on its targeting/tagging.
I always had the distinct feeling as a Mathematics and Economics college student, that I was really just looking at cute mathematical formulas that were fairly simplistic and then someone made some wild assumptions about how the human brain functions individually and collectively to come to some crazy conclusions. But I just shup up, showed up for my tests, and patted myself on the back for managing to get a degree in a subject that is considered valuable to some degree. Of course in reality, I knew that I was in some pseudoscience mix of philosophy and sociology, but worse since it takes its shit so seriously and the math, simplistic though it is for anyone with a math backround, is just complicated enough to make people look smarter than they are. I gave up trying to understand this feeling or explain it besides concluding that it all is so complicated at some point but that surely a computer will be able to solve everything and factor in unexplained factors eventually. As I got older I realized for sure the human brain assumptions are so wildly off target for the reality of what I was seeing. This guy nails it on the head explaining so clearly why this feeling was happening for me and why it will always be there for anyone with a math backround and some level of critical thinking skills during an economics class, that has their brains functioning even slightly. We might as well be studying the stars and then making economic policy based on that.
You wouldn’t believe it how many economic (and for that matter political decisions) are based on astrology. The difference between economics and astrology is that the star gazers usually get it right. Trust me, I know this because I am an astrologer albeit I am no expert in so- called mundane astrology (the branch that deals with politics and economics).
I'm also an economics major. I was actually contemplating whether I should study economics, physics or mathematics and I end up choosing economics. I realise the more I study economics, the more cynical I become towards the subject. Sometimes I think I should've went with my first instincts and study applied mathematics instead but it's too late for me to change course now.
I had the exact same thought as Yanis with regards to the simple equilibrium model in comparative statics so I went on to search about comparative dynamics. Turns out there's a paper that's written by Paul Samuelson in 1941 about comparative dynamics but it was never introduced to the economics undergraduate curricula in ANY university.
Why is this the case? Is it because simple models are easy to understand and convenient to teach? Where's approximation theory, dynamical systems, entropy, complex adaptive system that seems to me more useful and effective mathematical tools (if economist are so determined to model economic phenomena) in studying economic and social systems. Trying to "predict" individual behaviour as we do in constrained optimization is a futile endeavour. It makes more sense to me to focus the mathematics of complexity and dynamical system and apply it to economics at the _aggregate_ level, rather than _individual_ level, to yield more meaningful results.
I also wonder why isn't the humanities side of economics being emphasised enough (or at all in some universities like mine). Why isn't the history of economic thought being taught as a core subject in university? Where is the human aspect of economics? Where's the historical, sociological, psychological, political and philosophical aspect of economics? Aren't we studying humans and not atoms and molecules? Why is only math being emphasised, yet emphasised on branches of math that isn't that helpful to economics, and the human aspect is totally being disregarded. This all seems counter productive to the study of economics which is the study of humans' behaviour that aren't quantifiable.
So it seems to me that economics undergraduate curricula teaches the wrong (or simplified/unrealistic) mathematics, WAY too little emphasis is placed on the human side of economics and the subjects becoming more ideological rather than seeking the objective truth.
That being said I still enjoy the subject, just don't enjoy that false theories being presented as the truth, and I wish to study all the way to PhD to become an academic economist to reform economics.
@@dariuschong4574 I am 33 now, and having changed career paths so, so many times in my life since undergraduate school (I am now actually a farmer!), I want to encourage you to say it is never too late to change course in life, re-evaluate, and do something else if we are feeling frustrated with our subject.
Our minds like to cling to the idea society tells us, that once we make choices a-b-c, it logically leads to choice d... what if instead, we actually come to realize that there was no choice in the first place, and every waking moment offers us a new chance to change the course of our lives? It is an incredibly freeing way to live, and surpressing our "logical" minds that comes up with all sorts of excuses in relation to finances or commitments doesn't understand the reality that THERE REALLY IS ONLY ONE LIFE HERE AND WE ALL ARE GOING TO DIE!
Which actually leads to an interesting point that is a common thread in taught in economics, that all people are making choices from a point of selfishness/in their own self interests. What happens when I stop myself, notice where my thoughts are going, and conciously use my will to decide to think something different instead? I have changed my life and way of thinking so many times in life that it is very easy to realize how ridiculously simplified the thought that everyone is working in their own self interest is. The world is so incredibly complex and beautiful, so complex that it can never be mapped out or understood in the entirety, and that is the beauty of it all!
So when I read your reply and find you frustrated with your major, and especially you working from a point of negativity ("this subject has major issues, and I want to reform it because of that"), I would encourage you to find a subject or idea in life that allows you to work from a place of positivity. It makes life a lot easier and is a lot more enjoyable really, and leads to a lot of joy and happiness to think positive thoughts and work in a field that breeds positivity, instead of working from a negative place and trying to "fix" everything, which of course we know never happens and never will happen.
Nice to read your post, I also contemplated being a physics major, but I realize now probably the best decision I could have made wasn't deciding which major would lead to which path I went down in life, but understanding and having the confidence to step outside my own mathematical/logical based mind to realize how beautiful life is and how wonderful it can be to start fresh with something new when our old paths in life feel "stale."
@@nineallday000 Well realistically speaking, it's quite difficult for me to change course right now due to various factors...
It's not that I don't like economics. You see, economics is about learning how people make choices to maximise their satisfaction given a certain set of constraints. I've read several books about economics and I thought some of these problems that economics is trying to solve is not just interesting but important as well. Economic theories have the ability to impact thousands, if not, millions of lives around the world. Keynesian economics have impacted billions of people all over the world now. So I see economics have a more direct impact on society as opposed to mathematics or physics.
What I find frustrating is that the university economics education doesn't actually teaches you what the subject intends to teach you. I'm learning about make believe fairytales (assume this, assume that, consumers are rational, more is always better, no information failure, perfect competition, etc.) rather than truly understanding how the world works or how humans behave. Economics professors nowadays aren't critical thinkers themselves despite having decades of experience along with their PhD. They're being indoctrinated by neoclassical economics ONLY and presenting ONLY one out of the nine school of thoughts in economics to their students. They teach students about these models as if they're fundamental laws of physics and most students seems to just accept them and not think about the implications behind the mathematics.
When I listen to people like Yanis Varoufakis and Ha Joon Chang, read books like Poor Economics or Capital by Thomas Piketty, I get a breath of fresh air, I become interested in the subject. I _know_ there's more to economics rather than just dull 19th century mathematics used to solve constrained optimization problems which reflects nothing in real life. I'll just continue reading and learning more about economics outside of classroom to keep myself motivated and stay curious. It just seems to me that there is so much more to economics than what we're being taught in university. I fancy the idea that one day I'll be working on things beyond mainstream economics.
Yanis lecture’s main argument is about introducing a pluralistic approach in teaching economics. As it stands now, major universities all over teach students only the orthodox paradigm of neoclassical economics and have abandoned all together the history of economic thought. He says loud and clear, let’s change this agenda and expose students to every school of thought without any prejudice and allow them to judge what is right and what’s wrong. Being myself an economist I know very well how young economists are indoctrinated with mainstream neoliberal nonsense with the disastrous results of adopted policies around the world.
What's wrong deserves to be forgotten.
it definitely sounds like a good fix to economical maximalism. It should at least teach kids to be more critical of the current turbo capitalist norms, and it should at the same time safeguard againsts left wing excesses. To me it sounds sane, practical and very very liberal, in the classical open knowledge sense. The only problem here is that he is 1 man, we need more, and the kids don't know to ask for this
Most people do not go to school to become researchers or scientists. They go to school to get the tools which would allow them to accumulate Wealth for themselves. (I want to know the stuff that gets me money) Researcher and Scientist must learn to write books, proposals and deliver lectures so that somebody with Wealth would give them the opportunity to study ALL approaches to economics, etc.
What is the role of schools in a society ? It must be to make you Wealthier than the others, not to make you a cheap labor source for the Professors, as most commonly is the case.
@@reasonerenlightened2456 Yeah that's poison to humanity and very selfish, how many people want to work on anything just to acquire wealth? or they are forced to work? You don't think humans would want to use their habilities for the help of everybody in a world were you basic needs safe, and have some money to spend? what a reasoning...
@@edh615 The engineering task is to make Laws and Legislation resulting in a generous, altruistic, humane, just society made of selfish, petty, greedy, backstabbing, treacherous, vindictive, self-absorbed individuals.
Having studied economics at Uni, Yanis described my studies perfectly. Neo classical was all we learnt. Thats it. And I remember feeling confused because the theory gave me more questions than it answered.
You and me both.
I started off as an Economics major but changed to political science when my Econ classes put me in the same situation as you. While I do not have an econ degree, I still very much consider myself an economist. Yanis has answered so many of my questions and has given me a path forward towards my graduate and doctorate pursuits. So glad I found him.
@@NewAgeNomad93 Yanis certainly is very charismatic figure. He has inspired many.
yanis used to be a profesor for the university of Athens , this is where i am studying economics right know and we are actually using his book there. Here we are learning a lot more than the mainstream neoclassical staff .
That's what I get when I try to study economics. Just big jumps and assumptions at every turn.
"The 1st piece of education, there's no authority " That's very wise.
We the students have the right to be told that it's ok to think outside the box or against the mainstream model.
Thank you sharing this conference.
Read Voltaire Demba, its a very nice reading that can open you multiple universes,
This attitude is very common among Swedish students , that is "there's no authority". We are thought to think and read critically. But, this is not always the case of course.
When Yanis starts speaking of software giants like Facebook and free channels of communication being free because the supplier sees it as a means of manipulation I think of the following phrase: "If something is free, YOU are the product".
its quite chilling
Like when New York Times gave a generation bad health advise. It was free, uncritical readers were the product, sold to big pharma. Then Facebook, Reddit etc came, and people tried figuring out the truth from the lies. But the disbalanced power relations make it an unstoppable binary fire pit of truth and lies. Money printer goes brrrr....
When YANISary(ies) start speaking...1000 working positions left Greece for Usa, uk and lately romanias n bulgarias...
@@vasilykatuma5689 One thing is for sure, the capital will always search for the cheapest labour.
This is called race to the bottom.
That is what the world is doing, and the governments can compete, who is able to provide the best conditions for investment.
The ultimate best for them is slave labour.
Unfortunatelly Yanis is a leftist, and he cares about his country's working conditions, and that example is a dangerous one for the international investors.
That is why they crushed syriza.
People should not see, that There Could be an Alternative.
Only allowed and promoted alternative is far right, which is disaster capitalism with no human rights.
For me, I would not blame him, if a 1000 job leaves the country. He is just working to build resistance against the inhumane system, that destroys our planet.
But they didn't punish him with that 1000, they just democratically imposed credit line freeze against them, just to ensure, that everybody understands, the democracy is just the blue color of their flag, but nothing more.
Hi Google!
This a patriot and a compassionate intellectual who is not afraid to speak up.
Ευχάριστο Γιάννη, τι να κάνουμε που στην Ελλάδα δεν σε τιμούν.
Commenting for algorithm! But also- I’m a high school drop out and don’t have enough money to get any more formal education. I watch many lectures to improve my understanding of the world. Thank you so much for the upload.
If you continue to seek knowledge you will learn more on your own than in high school, keep it up!
Bravo! Ditto with the previous comment, you will have a more open mind without the precinditioning happening in university
And how do you make money?
How Do you make money?
Dr Yanis Varoufakis is a talented thinker in our time. He talks for the rest of us, I wish he was the head of the UN. Please teach us more you are an invaluable asset. Thank you.
Australia
27:59 "There is no authority, no expert, in pointing out which school of thought is right or not."
"Economics is much closer to philosophy than it is to science."
Except when it is much closer to religious supertitous dogma.
Well philosophy is great but at least economists are able to look at data and know something about maths. Econometrics is not an opinion or belief.
@@a.g364 you really should study some philosophy of science
@@alfredofloyd and you really should study something about maths, statitics, econometrics and economics. Pedantic and arrogant! Did I hurt you cause you're a philosopher?
@@alfredofloyd If economics is similar to a religion, philosophers are priests that do not believe in God but they create their own religion and only believe in their own abstract thought( without any empirical evidence). Philosophers of science are the ones that wonder if something can be considered science or not in the meanwhile phisicists, chemists even economists try to understand the reality and solve practical proplems
Wouldn't it be amazing to be a first year economics student taught by Yanis? You would just be madly in love with economics for the rest of your life.
That's cute; you're under the impression that's not already true for anyone who's a first year econ student, plus, market fundamentalism is already the world's secular religion. More, more, more...nothing's ever good enough for the ruling classes.
@Wanderchris he was teaching in athens? Didn’t know that. For how long and in which uni!?
@Wanderchris ok I think I understand in which department. He is great!! Thanks
Hi I'm a first year student here in Greece,studying economics in EKPA...the thing is that he hasn't shown up at all even though he is supposed to be a professor.
@@ΓιάννηςΧατζής-τ3ρ
His duties have been suspended since he is in the parliament now
He said that in this video I think
The problem, as with all these corrupt systems, is not that we lack smart (financial) engineers it's that we lack moral ones.
You should really check out what's going on in Mexico. AMLO is trying to separate economic from political power. The elites, from unscrupulous local businessmen to the international press are trying to derail his plans. Quite a case study.
@@goxdie000 Same thing happened in South Africa under Nelson Mandela in the 90s. He literally sold out the country.
The same "privatization" has been happening in the U.S., and the "Great Reset" is about to make it official and global.
@@omegablack7135 I mean, in Mexico it's quite the opposite, but international media simply writes off anti-privatization measures as "populist". That's why we don't hear it in the rest of the world, but we gotta unite in the correct path.
@@goxdie000 oh, I totally misunderstood. If that's the case it reminds me of the Zapatistas, and yes, we must unite againat the corporate forces of death.
So true 🎉🎉🎉🎉🎉❤
Thank you so much for making this available to the general public.
I will echo this. As Varoufakis argues in part, we need to begin to have an open and plural discourse.
Do you want to translate it to your language, if it's not on the list of subs?
@HelioPyres Congrats to include Marx into your sentence.
Did you read the Capital too?
@@andrasdudas8226 I'm ok with translating it to Portuguese but last time I did something similar they could facilitate the text in English so I could work with it. Should I translate the autogenerated subtitles? How do I send the final text back?
Why does the compassionate economic sanity of this man make me cry?
Because time yet hasn't come to implement his ideas 💫💡 💫 in the real world 🌍🌐🌍
😕simply won't happen .•°
@@farrider3339 He tried that in Greece as minister of Finance and failed miserably. Even his own radical left party realized that his plans were ridiculous and replaced him.
His idea of an economic plan, was to threaten the E.U, that if Greece goes bankrupt, the EU would collapse economically.
His plan to "save" the EU was by giving him a blank check with money from the ECB.
@@kostbad : the way me remember Y.V. story -
He tried to blackmail "aLL the rest" with the threat of leaving € .
Which is a tactical move in the first place.
When negotiations begin or better prior to that the opponents create (!) a mass for the negotiations about which one is willing to debate upon and reduce the absolute content in the course of the negotiations.
Rocket-man 🇰🇵 does exactly the same , but there's nobody there that would seriously negotiate on this with him.
Except 🇨🇳 who is kinda nanny for dangerous paranoid dictator Kim.
Me nOt sure whether an ordinary politician has a comparable comprehension of economix and the financial market these days.
Me doubt that emphatically.
The narrative created by both sides in retrospective , is highly questionable and debatable (ad nauseum).
The way Y.V. sees himself is more like a door opener to a different mode of tinkink 💭 and dealing with the issue of money 💵💸 flying around the virtual 🌐 sphere of global finance market system.
Of course none whatsoever liked his proposal's.
And the 🇬🇷 political establishment , i'm sure , did some nice offers to leftists on a personal level (💵💵).
So Y.V. left the scenery.
He himself said the 🇬🇷 demos didn't vote for Syriza party because they wanted left agenda in their country , they voted left for banging those in charge up to this point.
Maybe You have somting to add or correct.
Me onlY live on hear say.
Me wasn't present in any of the green rooms .•°
@Karl Marx : me like humorous people .•°
@@kostbad False. He did not "try" anything in Greece because his own Prime Minister who appointed him betrayed him and stabbed him in the back by rolling over in submission to the EU capitalist banks and their austerity demands.
The more I see this the more I am getting convinced that psychology explains consumer behaviour better. Τους δίκασες όλους Γιάνη.
See Amos tversky and Daniel kahneman. Nobel Winner in economics, and psycologists.
yes. Dr. Ramani once wrote that advertisers (aka propagandist) make better psychologists than actual psychologists. they understand us so well they can shape us. thats what the surveillance is actually for. to improve the algorithm and keep us consuming content. attention is currency now
Edward Bernays was the nephew of Sigmund Freud and applied Freud's insights in order to create Public Relations as we know it today. Bernays was in Europe after WW2 and wondered how the subconscious could be used in times of peace. "Edward Bernays and Group Psychology" on YT.
I mean what is economics but sociology+ money and what's sociology except the phycology of lots of people... Makes sense to me that it's useful
@@Floxflow They explain human behaviour and decision making through their heuristics definitions
I want to live in a world where this is the kind of economics that people pay attention to
Every few months I rewatch this Video. This one of the best economics lectures that I have watched in my whole life. The history of economics and the examples Yanis uses are very great and this helped me understand a lot of the theories and case studies I read in economics books. I have also got understanding of the world around me better.
i want to push the midwest power industry towards decentralization and hold the monopoly accountable. learning more and more everyday before graduating. needed this talk today. thanks Yanis
Thanks professor Yanis Varoufakis, As an economics student who believes in the rational choice theory, You have inspired me to push beyond.
Good to see Indians here.
Are u talking about austrian school of economics?
@@orlindomachengo6556 NAh, I am talking about the neo-classical school, although the both share major things, such as the action axiom and other things, Neo-classical school is like an ostrict which dips its head into the sand to avoid trouble, AUSTRIAN SCHOOL IS MUCH RICHER THAN NEO-CLASSICAL, it uses time, capital, structure of production among other things, which neither neo-classical or keynesians do
@@vibhuvikramaditya4576 you are mistaken, you should deepen economic theories, austrian and neoclassical (mainstream economic theory) schools are irrelevant in the field of economics. Shumpeterian, developmentalist, Keynesian and heterodox theories are the best.
@@orlindomachengo6556 That is precisely my approach but I don't think any one field claims superiority over everyone else, I have read keynes himself, and his successors, I don't understand what you mean by developmentalist, but each has their own stronghold over certain areas, the problem that keynes and his successors run into is negation of capital, structure of production, and time, all these are richly developed in classicals like smith, ricardo even marx to an extent , but austrains have developed it the most, the more important point, I want to reconcile and synthesize every stream into one coherent set of logical structure, rigid dualities of right and wrong has no place in our discipline according to me, The neo-classical tools and their paradigms are also powerful in certain areas. I have a strong belief that in the end economics should reign supreme, so words like heterodox and traditional don't make much sense to me. Thus none of us should claim or live in the falacy of the notion that they have the exact version of the economic truth, instead look to search for truth with every possible lens available and then articulate as clearly as one can in either word, or mathematical statement.
I've been on a binge of Yanis Varoufakis lately and haven't been disappointed. He's such a great speaker that it makes me wish I was a better listener. Gonna need to read some of his books.
That was an absolutely spectacular lecture. Very cool, Yanis Varoufakis, and thank you to the students who organised this 😁
11:00 pluralisms necessary involvement in economics
29:00 opportunity cost from concepts of Adam Smith & unintended consequences that are necessary to reach a better public interest
31:18 from economics to capitalism
Wonderful initiative. Kudos to the students and those who organized this forum!
Yanis is absolutely right about the need for pluralism in economics, for better economic theories, and for better economic systems. And it’s great that Rethinking Economics is getting so much attention, as they are doing such important work! Along those lines, I have recently developed an alternative economic theory of business, markets, and profit for social-ecological sustainability. It's called Relationship-to-Profit Theory. I thought people who watch this video might be interested in it.
Have you heard about C.H. Douglas Social Credit?
For those that are interested in Jen Hinton's theory, here's a link: th-cam.com/video/LFWKldh-I7g/w-d-xo.htmlsi=tSi6laQCmGEPf24Z
This is the best lecture I HAVE listened from TH-cam. thank you for uploading!
I love listening to Yanis, even though I disagree with him about many things. He feels like a guy i could ferociously argue with about his ideas for an hour with great intensity and then go to down to a bar for a friendly beer and jokes.
lol exactly
That's the very definition of civility.
He is just good for only that and not as a MP or any other government role...
@@georgekaramanoglou2203 Well, as a representative he lacks the political way of agreeing to a lesser evil that could cause the death of people. He doesn't want to sign down a bill that could hurt people. We should have more people like him defending the better way whether or not the people in power would be mad at it, but I agree he may lack the art of making a deal, fundamental in today's politics that aggregate the decision power in singular persons
@@user-rx3ny9ji8i thats an easy way to get rid of him (too easy if you ask me. you have to try at least as he tries to get rid of him). .Yes, he is certainly good at this and very bad to help rich and corrupted people get richer and more powerfull through some crappy deal. he is probably the only one who knows what those deals are really about. Most politicians will just surrender to the establishment without even know what they surrender. Sorry for my english
What a great way to start this year of 2021, with the brilliance of Yanis to free our minds from uncritical analysis of the world we live in.
W
It is. But honestly, with the pandemic and all the billionaires organized through the World Economic Forum new fallacy "Stakeholder Capitalism", the fuckers still win and we loose.
It took him just over 15 min before dragging Alan Greenspan and I'm here for every moment of it.
This was absolutely brilliant. As an American on the left interested in market socialism/funds socialism its very frustrating that there’s so much energy around socialism and opposing capitalism but it’s overall insanely unsophisticated and incoherent, lots of it is semi ironic Soviet nostalgia, pure moralizing without thought, many anachronistic features in thought and strategy. I’m not a historian but this seems like intellectually a great moment for socialist thought in terms of policy and it’s largely disconnected from the masses and elected politicans on the left. Maybe it’s different elsewhere. We need more of this and less dumb dumb left thoughtless outrage and fundamentalism
Said everything!!! Congratulations!!! Ridiculous this video !!!
Yeah, less dumb dumb left thought you said it! More libertarianism!
@@fatpotatoe6039 *anarcho-communism - which is a branch of liberalism that necessitates central power to be dissolved into the power of regional and local democracy
Join your local food charity drive
Tankies are ruining the left
@@fatpotatoe6039 no, libertarianism (in American meaning right libertarianism) is a childish system of legalized feudalism that would also be terrible for growth and stability, and it’s the opposite of everything he’s saying in this video.
Unless you mean left libertarianism, which I used to align with but don’t think makes much sense now: you need a centralized state for some pretty fundamental things like environmental protection among others
Great lecture. Mr. Varoufakis is one of the FEW persons on the planet who really UNDERSTAND how modern economies work.. The bad thing is that he is not very vocal about the NATURE of modern economies and the people who run the show. The technochratic feudal lords of the 21st century.
Start: 7:05
Thanks
That was incredible. Why did I bother going to university ? I should have just watched TH-cam videos by yanis
to make new friends?
@@alexandrelvao you want to pay thousands of dollars...to make new friends?
Me recuerda mucho una frase mítica de méxico, de el General Emiliano Zapata: "La tierra es de quien la trabaja".
Muchas gracias por compartir esta conferencia y la sesión de preguntas!
Excelente presentacion, me parece que es totalmente necesario lo que plantea Varoufakis, la economia debe ser enseñada en todas sus corrientes y con su contexto historico, yo creo que nadie podria estar en contra de que te entreguen toda la informacion para luego con ella tomar tus propias decisiones, es lo que deberia ser en todo orden de cosas.
Yanis speaks the only language I understand. It is hard to explain the patriotism of the Boston Tea Party which boarded ships flying the flag of the East Company and they were the merchants of Boston and Montreal and tea was untaxed and belonged to the East India Company. I don't know what else other than mercantilism they were patriotic about. A magnificent lecture.
Sorry, Yannis is a sympathetic guy for sure but this is really 100% bladderdibla. No idea what he is talking about. Something about Capitalism and banks being the evil cause of everything in general and by extension of what happened to Greece. No Yannis. Greece was doing just fine with its weak Drachma which perfectly accommodates its relative modest competitive labour force to compete with northern Europe and made tourism relatively attractive. In came the Communists of the EU who imposed the EURO onto the poor greeks and prevented them to simply print their own currency like they used to. The greeks had to resort to lending and made good use of the lower Euro interest rates lending gigantic amounts to fulfill idiotic promises to the people by corrupt national leaders. Soon national bond rates started to rise. Then the Marxist EU again intervened and disrupted the markets by lowering the Greek rates artificially by forcing other countries to take there loans on far too low rates. The Greeks lost their competitive advantage of a weak currency and had to debase their incomes nominally to compete internationally which caused lower tax incomes making the high debts even more unsustainable. Don't blame capitalism. If markets where left alone, Greece would have defaulted and be prosperous at this very moment. The Marxist Euro is the Procrustes bed of Europe. It fits no-one and everybody suffers as a consequence. If we don't abandon the Euro in its current form, the European dream will fall apart...
@@RWin-fp5jn You are simply ignorant about the character of the Euro and the EU as a whole. You're using political labels you don't understand. There is nothing "Marxist" about demanding privatisation of public services, imposing limits on public spending, driving member states into a race to the bottom to reduce corporate taxes and wages, deregulating consumer safety standards etc. - all of which the EU has been doing for the last 30 years or so. The EU is a neoliberal project, particularly after Maastricht. It's the opposite of any sort of Marxist or even broadly left-wing economic vision.
The Euro in particular has been used as a mechanism to expand and consolidate the dominance of export-based Northern economies, Germany in particular, over structurally weaker countries in the South. The former trapped the latter in a vicious circle of indebtness. It's a perfect illustration of how stronger countries will always seek to exploit the weaker ones, which is a key feature of capitalism. That's why a truly united Europe is not possible on a capitalist basis.
@@VladimirBrtn For your info : all EU countries suffer form the terrible transfer union that is now a reality. Italians per capita have 3x more private reserves (housing is often mortgage free) then Germans yet the Italian state (and Spanish) is poor and does not show ANY initiative anymore to collect taxes since the north is paying for their social costs (basic income). They never collected taxes since they were used to print money and not borrow .It is a disaster for every country. Only the Euro politburo an Euro Douma and the tens of thousands of bureaucrats are celebrating golden times. It is quite a prison for every one and this cannot last ....It is very very sad...It used to be such a great and wonderful continent in all its diversity...And sorry, the entire construct was driven by extreme Marxist principle of forcing a non elected EU commission body on all EU citizens and a disastrous currency which did not make ANY economic sense, other then the political aspiration of the elites to force Europe into a super state . Untold millions sufferd and will suffer because it is a horrible marxist pipe dream. The north was doing fantastic prior to the Euro (as did the south) , no need to export slightly more against cheaper prices certainly if that means our banks and pension funds where forced by the ECB to take southern bonds at far to high prices. politicians never learn....
@@RWin-fp5jn If you don't understand something doesn't mean it has no meaning. I am what might be called a savant. I can't do a lot of normal things but I speak the language of moral and linguistic philosophy. I am in my 70s and I know all the words . Yanis puts them together so I understand them. I may be retarded but Yannis speaks the only language that defines my epistemology. I looked up capitalism in Johnson's dictionary. Capitolism is the metaphysics of a society. Every society is capitalistic. America is evolving from neoliberalism which worked until we entered an age where we could control data far beyond human understanding. Neoliberalism and a gig economy has given us the rule of the far less than 1% leaving the word democracy without a home in America's hegemony. In the gig economy data is power. Jeff Bezos is the richest man because he owns the most data not the most gold. Wisdom has no price you can't buy it.
The gig economy makes public private and private public. Epistemological change makes fundamental change mandatory.
@@RWin-fp5jn Yanis actually protested in opposition to Greece joining the EU, he explicitly talks about this in several of his talks, he agrees almost entirely with your economic analysis, except one crucial point. You say "Don't blame capitalism. If markets where left alone, Greece would have defaulted and be prosperous at this very moment." Now we could say its all semantics, leftists call bad things "capitalist" and libertarians call bad things "socialist" because they interfere in markets, but we agree on what the bad thing is. Yanis argues that the reason Greece and other nations joined the EU, part of the reason, is precisely because of this economic logic that says "leave markets alone" - join this monetary union, open your markets up, deregulate everything, and there will be prosperity. They tried it, some massive proportion of public assets in Greece have been sold, they embraced austerity and everything you mentioned, and now they have one of worse economic crises of modern times.
One of the most impressive human beings living on this planet. 👏👏👏
For you, not for the Greek people
@@BC-hb7vj How was he the issue in any of that conflict? he had a deal with his prime minister Alexis (deterrent plan) and Alexis backed out even though the population spoke (you had a vote) which Alexis still ignored. Alexis ignored a deal he made with Yanis before he became minister of finance, that the public also voted and agreed with, yet Yanis is to blame?
You realize the alternative deal was a massive ass blast? he's the only guy in government with some of his team that stood up for your country with the support of the population, but then your prime minister backed out and agreed to the ass blast anyway. It's not Yanis that failed you. This is why he resigned in the end as well, so it wouldn't be him that signed the deal because that's how much he disagreed with how your prime minister behaved.
An impressive con-artist.
@@BC-hb7vj ούτως ή άλλως δεν φημίζονται για τις σωστές τους επιλογές
Thanks
this was easily one of the most informative + inspiring things I've ever seen, I've just finished watching it for the 2nd time, and I'm really excited to now get the book, Yanis' references to the late 1700s are a terribly relevant example from recent-ish history, so powerful to think we may be on the brink of undoing the current cloud-shackles -
I'm really grateful to be able to have access to the thoughts of incredible thinkers around history/economics/revolutionary ideas like this, it's really exciting to think we're potentially only one small revolution away from a far more equitable social situation, given how "globalised" the world asserts to being... it really sounds possible that enough people can agree around the world.. that we don't want to be cloud serfs, maybe more that we want to have a share of the profits being sourced from technological growth.
no longer should the risks be socialised with profits privatised, the more people that learn this key human right the better I think. thank you yanis, pls i rly hope that people see the sense in this information..
"[...]And my job is to implant dangerous ideas into the minds of the young." - nailed it
Socratic
@@katianna7306 Thanks, I just wanted to comment the same, you were faster... ;-) At least, this was the accusation of the state against Socrates, that led to a fake-trial, and his death...
@@klausbrinck2137 yep exactly
How this is an amazing talk. Only wish I could take his regular classes! So passionate and beautifully reasoned. I think that this kind of academics is sorely missing from leftist discourse.
its a question of power, if you have power you can interpret the numbers as you like, and make them reality
to have financial or political power means to make YOUR reality into EVERYONE's reality
Total power corrupts Absolutely !!
Then come wars, revolution, or Financial depression ... or a mixture of them all ...
6:45 economics without capitalism
1:06:30 markets without capitalism
1:12:50 Q&A
Great lecture! This is pretty nice because it is a cursory look at meta-economics accessible to the general public.
This is intellectual radicalism. You are a good genius 👏 ❤
sad
The knowledge of this man is beyond belief.
Wtf have ever talked to a professor befor?;?
The amount of your stupidity is beyond belief if you listen to this clown.
@@no_type0122 many many manyyyyyy times beforE
@@sakisfotias8617 nice arguments. You don't like logic right?
@@sakisfotias8617 Why is he a clown?
Bravo and compliments on your courage to challenge arrogant neoliberal economics in germany.
A remarkable lecture with many insights. The last answer, about the inability of economics to even apprehend so-called “externalities” such as environmental problems, reveals our alienation from the world. We need to challenge the orthodoxy. How about an economics whose first principle is “abundance” instead of “scarcity”? I look forward to youtube posts from your conference in April!
14:22 “Excuse me, I have a terrible cold... Not the chinese variety”
WELL THAT AGED WELL
This was in February 2020. Corona was already quite big back then
@@oliverradivan434 wasn't it February 2021?
@@pc...430 it was published on Jan/2021 so must have been earlier.
The descriptions says Feb 2020
This lecture demonstrates extraordinary mental fortitude and thoughtfulness, a true masterpiece.
Many valuable take-away's from this lecture. Mr Varoufakis is a very enlightened man. I'd never thought of Maxwell's equations as the beginning of capitalism. Amazing.
as someone with zero knowledge of economy who came here very randomly this just gave me an existential crisis, but i think i liked it thank you now i will have to process it
Grab a beer. You will feel better.
i dont know, i found it hopeful..
Brilliant. Simply brilliant. I'm only sad I wasted 3 years studying Economics.
Oh why so ? Just curious cuz I’m in last year of high school and I’m planning to take an economics related undergrad ..
@@jineshwarnariani8966 ‘08 killed Economics and Finance replaced it. Economics tried to imitate Physics by having laws and it failed badly. In the real world, the models that economics teaches you are useless because society is always changing and adapting, humans are not like atoms, they learn, meaning you always need new models to explain past behaviour.
Economics was a hot and respected subject before ‘08, mostly glorified by people that knew nothing about it and I was fooled. While I was studying it I was also trying to apply it to the markets, and Lord behold they didn’t behave at all as the Economics said they should. It’s all bullshit. Get a STEM degree that has some real world usage and don’t waste your time with Economics.
I’m new to economics and global power systems but this man makes everything seem clear and understandable.
Great work
he exlained it effortlessly for a never in life an economics student
I came here accidentally n fell in ❤️. Professor is rational. Love from India 🙏
This type of thought should be taught in every economics department
No it shouldn't.
Yanis does a great job explaining everything.
it seems so weird now, seeing all of them so packed in that amphitheater...
I have such a bad cold... but it’s not the Chinese one... are u sure prof?
@@92zane92 what?
right! the new BC- Before Coronavirus
@@ff-qf1th 14:10
is this on January of 2021 ?
You've hit the nail on the head with your critique of capitalism. It effectively exposes the darker aspects of our current economic system.
Beautiful. We will keep the polis alive!!
Xoxox
More people need to see this.
Fantastic and eye-opening talk. Makes you see capitalism and economics in a new light.
Thank you Yanis for your excellent lecture and presentation. This seminar was enlightening and seminal from my perspective. Much appreciated. ⭐️⭐️⭐️⭐️⭐️. 🙏👏👍💥
Plato is born again it is very good that we have such philosophers. We have the moral duty to make a dignified life possible for all people. Let people starve to death just because of greed is unacceptable, if we allow that, anarchy will rule
Best economics lecture I've ever heard. Thank you
1:00:24 a good starting point for those with less time
Thanks!!! I wish someone makes diagram of his dream
Thank you good man
thank you man
what did he talk about before that?
The whole thing is important, as it is an analysis of the failure of supply/demand models for labor prices, and to understand debts and money creation in banks, this is the essence of capitalism (but it doesn't appear in economics books).
01:03:41 so cute he almost said "it's ok" in greek right there "δε πειράζει" xD and then immediately changed it to "don't worry about it"
Απορώ πως πρόλαβες να το παρατηρήσεις!
But english also use it’s ok here in the Uk
Where he wants to take us does not sound too bad in its destination. What will happen to get there pragmatically? How is it even possible? What necessary ugly events might occur? How must they be responded to? How will they more likely be responded to?
Where can I read more about the proposals Mr. Varoufakis makes at the end of the talk? The triple bank account, the land evaluation and taxation and such? The latter part seems to be a form of georgism?
22:00 Also, the CIA doesn't bomb physics labs in countries if their model of the universe or particles isn't the same as DC's and Wall St's.
Wait, are there different models? I thought the fact that most of the world works together on science would mean they all have the same basic model of the universe. So many important unifying theories it's near impossible to get where we are today without using the shortcuts of those that came before.
Do not give them ideas.
@@fisharepeopletoo9653 There are many unify theories. I know as minimum 3 absolutely different theories that explain 'Dark matter" try very different physics for example, with different theory of gravity.
@@fisharepeopletoo9653 Google "atom in a box", and check out the software. Thats the latest model in the west of the atom, which will be unlike anything you've seen befors most likely
Impeccable. You just can't help but stare in awe at this man's intellect, clarity of mind, and passion.
An astounding lecture indeed.
great talk learned a lot. i love how he deconstructs the absurdity of the mythmatics/mathiness concepts bad economists use.
also, the occupy movement increased class consciousness which is the first step in changing the world. these things happen in waves
@SCH be like water
- Regarding "bad economists" it seems to me that such people construct many "wonderful shiny ivory towers of logic" without troubling themselves to even bother to do something as basic as carry out REALITY testing - or consider the consequences to others ! ! !
The example at 22:54 is not wholly a matter of interpretation and partially omits some important market factors. The businessman, buying in a good year, when prices are lower, will probably have bought a significant quantity of corn which will increase the demand in the good year, making the farmers a higher revenue, which can be used to balance out the loss in the bad year - if the businessman didn't buy a significant quantity during the good years he most likely wouldn't be able to move the market price during a bad year.
But I like his approach to teaching he talked about after that example. I fully support his method of teaching many economic theories instead of just one, it helps the students in developing an open mind instead of caging their thoughts with just one theory to explain everything.
This is remarkably similar to Richard Wolff’s lecture, and they both strengthen each other. An excellent lecture, Yanis!
A clear proposal on "what to do" is just what we lack in this terrible times, usually intellectuals are good at pointing problems, but hardly ever they give answers. A future like the one Varoufakis propose is a beautiful one, but is human nature to preserve the status quo, and more over is human nature to preserve power when you got it. "Fortunately" this power is, day by day, in the hands of fewer people, making them increasingly identifiable. If you want a future similar to what Yanis is imagining, now is the time to share video like this one, is inconceivable that we have "tranding" such idiotic things and video like this one got so little exposure. Thanks DiEM25
Fear is the great destroyer.
@@aylbdrmadison1051 I couldn't agree more, fear bring aggressivity ,and aggressivity bring the polarization of ideas to the "logical" conclusion of violence. Fear of change, of the other, is the reason why we can't talk with each other anymore, any idea MUST be the opposite of the other, so we loose all the shades in between...and in spite of everything I said my friend...I'm a bit scared myself...
Thats why Thomas Piketty in my opinion has the best solution to date. I can cite the general ides here:
" In order to properly adress the social & environmental challenges of our time, one needs to go beyond capitalism and the sacralization of private propert (over natural resources, over knowledge, etc.).
Educational Justice: effective and verifiable.
(More investment in public education.
The diffusion of knowledge and skills to people who dont have rich parents. Very effective in minimizing inequality)
Social Et temporary property: we need to balance owners rights with workers rights (extension of german-nordic co-management model), to favor the permanent circulation of power and property. (Inheritance for all equal to 120 000€ at the age of 25 for instance), and to limit individual accumulations to a reasonable magnitude (on the basis of historical experiments) Socialdemocracy post WW2.
Social-federalism: free exchange must be made conditional upon binding objectives regarding social, fiscal and environmental justice"
Basically he's saying we need to build on the socialdemocratic welfare state were it left off in the 70-80's and take it further. Wealth taxes, inheritance taxes reintroduced among other things.
@@maxion5109 This is very interesting, I come from one of the European countries where socialism took hold quite deeply in the 70's culture, a lot of the welfare we still got today came from there (free healthcare, payed holidays, employment contracts in favour of workers), I can see that the world is trying to change in a direction similar to that described by Piketty (if I remember correctly) in "Capital and ideology", my only concern is that those those who are proposing this change (th-cam.com/video/uPYx12xJFUQ/w-d-xo.html), are the same people who created the problem in the first place, should we entrust the future to those who have ruined the present? Or maybe it is better to entrust things to someone who has shown loyalty to his ideology from the beginning? Like Varoufakis for example...
Watching this instead of the Super Bowl. Thanks for posting!
Anti capital 😉
Oh my god, you are SO SMART!
this guy is so brilliant !!!
As a commerce student in university my question is at 26:00 he talks about the capitalist who stocks up excess quantity of food in the good crop to sell during the bad crop times. Yes, the price is stabilized but the farmers selling less crops don’t get the benefit of increased price, but assuming this is an efficient wouldn’t every farmer latch on to this and just stock up on extra crops themselves and not have them for sale or sell them at a premium to the ‘capitalist’? The farmers may not have the same capital but they have the infrastructure to pull this off. We also have not gone over the perishabîity and feasibility of this example but I think for simplicity it was left out of the question.
Wow! Professor Yanis Varoufakis! That was an awesome lecture by you!"👍👏
This lecture is SO 🔥!!
"Where the mind is without fear and the head is held high
Where knowledge is free
Where the world has not been broken up into fragments
By narrow domestic walls
Where words come out from the depth of truth
Where tireless striving stretches its arms towards perfection
Where the clear stream of reason has not lost its way
Into the dreary desert sand of dead habit
Where the mind is led forward by thee
Into ever-widening thought and action
Into that heaven of freedom, my Father, let my country awake."
By Rabindranath Tagore
I am bengalee, from the state West Bengal where Tagore was born, how did you know this poem? I am interested how have you come across Tagore?!
@@urjeshutthasani3714 ah I am from Nagaland, India.
@@borntorebel3848 oh I see, have a great day.
What a wonderful teacher he is 😀
I'm glad that he makes the point of markets being markets, and not only a product of any said economic system.
It's perfectly clear that the current system is and have always been in opposition to democracy by it's very nature.
So we should all look into economics from another perspective, making it serve our needs instead of shaping us to serve the economy.
Thank you very much for this wonderful and inspiring lecture... Professor!!!
“Today we are all free in the land where we are unfree”, I think this is what Slavoj means when he speaks of ideology.
I think Yiannis and Slavoj are friends or used to be
@@Manolara1 Friends?
like me? Clicking Z. S. to see if is nose is still attached to his head.
Twitch waning? Not a chance!
i think zizek is a member of diem25 actually
Damn, this lecture was mind blowing. I'm currently doing the MSc Economics a Imperial University London and which my lectures where more like this
Is it possible that a good thing that has come out of the pandemic and subsequent lockdowns and that is that so many more people (such as me) have now time to listen to lectures like these and inform ourselves about deeper issues that should concern us.
There is mistake in subtitles 1:16:21. He says CDOs which is Collateralised Debt Obligations but subtitles says Credit Default Swaps. In fact these two are completely opposite.
I would love to get a transcript of this lecture that I could give to my macro economics class. Please let me know how I may obtain one.
Keep on Yannis, keep on!
Thank-you 👍🏻💕
Well done, I love his analogy of credit reaching into the future to create value
most brilliant lecture. worth watching not only once...Big thanks for uploading. And big thanks to the algorithm for recommending it for a third re-watch.. which I am doing right now with pleasure. . : ]
yep, some of his examples are simply brilliant.
Talk starts at 7:05
46:00 medieval peasants were quite capable of leaving, actually. Sure, you had to avoid the baron's soldiers, but there weren't many and you knew the land better. And usually the baron of the land you're moving to wouldn't mind another worker as long as you didn't start trouble, so you were welcomed, on the rare occasion that they cared enough to count their peasants, they usually just counted houses at tax time.
Edit to add: Thanks, this was interesting.
Yes this part was very oversimplified,
serfs could buy their way out freedom or prove that they were yeomen in court, they could also run away to towns whos people would usually take you in and after a while you'd be legally declared free, you could join the clergy or go on pilgrimage and just not come back, there were also just as many ways of becoming servile from a freeman usually also by choice.
Yanis did never actually say whether he was talking about serfs yeomen slaves or bondsmen, he could've been talking about slaves or bondsmen in which case he is generally correct but the amount of slaves and bondsmen varies greatly between regions not like today where globalism turns most countries into the same models with different settings, in England I know that there were fewer slaves than serfs and after the Norman conquest slavery was transitioned to bonded servitude - you'd still be forced to work but you would have some money.
Brilliant mind with the capacity to express clear thought 🤔🙏❤️🙏🤔
Great lecture, thank you very much for the enlightenment.
All you have to do is work hard, get rich or die trying, why would you want to care about the rest?
@@reasonerenlightened2456 work hard in a rigged and unfair system is useless.
And really I don't want to get rich.
I desire a peaceful and fulfilling live. I don't need much things for me to be well.
And some times I cannot have a good night sleep knowing that misery, violence and injustice is upon other human beings like me. I feel like they are part of me.
We must try to make a better world.
Humankind is part of a living planet.
The desire to get rich or greed is like a disease.
Rich people are like a cancerous tumour in a organism. With a disproportionate size and destroying other living tissues only for his benefit.
Taking more resources than they need to function normally.
If we cannot build a balanced, fair, sustainable and healthy system, even the rich people will suffer from the disease of the system. It's only a matter of time.
Doing good, makes us good.
“As for democracy, where do I start laughing?"
From inside the electrified fence of a socialist re-education camp. And the U.S. is a Republic, not a Democracy. The difference is in Websters for your learning. Yes, critical thinking is critical. Start also questioning. Capitalism sounds like a bad thing to you, but almost everything you have and enjoy is due to capitalism. The problem is elsewhere, capitalism is a great tool when used properly. And this man is also a politician he told us as he smoothed over that with winsome ways and charming address. First impressions are not always right, actually, hardly ever. Oh WOW. He just said he is a Marxist!! This man is dangerous. Read up on Marxism. The parent to communism. Don't drink his koolaid!!!!
@@americanpatriot7247 but Marxism...as in what Karl Marx proposed is NOT what today's "anti socialist" like to claim as or often confuse with "neo Marxism".
if you really want to understand what Marx was saying...try reading what he wrote rather than listen to those with the desire to demonize his words and scare people into thinking he's dangerous...yes very dangerous to the corporate stranglehold on the economy and the working class slave labour.
@@schligges Yup, all the evil ones of history who proudly claim Marx as their inspirational hero....they just got the guy wrong.
@@americanpatriot7247 Funny the one who us permanently drunk on koolaid advising others 'not to drink it'. And you wouldn't recognise 'critical thinking' even if it slapped you in the face with a wet fish, since you are chocking in right wing shock jock shitty talking points.
Economics without capitalism emphasizes the potential for economies to operate with different principles such as communal ownership, cooperative models, and participatory economic structures that challenge the notion that markets must always be driven by private profit. It envisions systems where public resources and communal goods are managed in a way that prioritizes collective well-being and environmental sustainability. This approach can shift focus from wealth accumulation for a few to meeting the needs of the majority, addressing critical issues like poverty, inequality, and climate change.
Markets without capitalism, on the other hand, recognize that while markets are powerful tools for resource allocation and innovation, they do not need to be tied exclusively to the capitalist model. These markets could function as platforms for fair trade, social enterprise, and ethical commerce. The goal would be to create systems where market mechanisms exist to facilitate equitable exchange without the underlying profit motive that often leads to exploitation and environmental degradation.
One important aspect of this vision is the concept of "democratizing the economy," where decision-making processes are more inclusive and transparent, allowing communities to have a say in economic activities that impact their lives. This could involve transforming how corporations operate, implementing cooperative business models where workers and communities share in decision-making and profits, or fostering public ownership of key sectors such as healthcare and utilities. By ensuring that economic activities are aligned with social and environmental goals, we can move toward an economy that prioritizes sustainability and human dignity over sheer profit.
Implementing markets without capitalism requires rethinking the role of policy, regulation, and corporate accountability. Governments and institutions would need to establish and enforce rules that prevent monopolistic practices, protect labor rights, and promote environmental stewardship. Policies that encourage worker cooperatives, social enterprises, and non-profit models can create an economic environment where competition thrives in a fair and equitable manner, free from the exploitative tendencies of capitalism.
However, challenges exist in transitioning to a system where markets serve the common good rather than private interests. Resistance from entrenched economic powers, cultural norms favoring capitalism, and the complexity of transforming existing systems must be addressed. It would require a combination of grassroots movements, political will, and innovative thinking to create a market structure that balances efficiency with equity.
@1:25:36
''You are assuming that people maximize something called utility''
'' Does this correspond to introspection? Is this what I do in life? ''
.....
Hearing such words from a professor of economics is quite something ...