I have a question about something I heard Mr. Varoufakis say on another TH-cam channel -- it's in Canada and comments are blocked -- in relation to Putin and some early interest he had in Russia joining NATO, and how it conflicts with an article I read on that. Mr. Varoufakis said something to the effect that Putin took an interest in NATO, and that if they'd been allowed to join, the current Russian invasion of Ukraine would not have happened. That makes sense. However, In an article in the Guardian from late 2021, George Robertson, a former Labour defence secretary who led NATO between 1999 and 2003, said Putin made it clear at their first meeting that he wanted Russia to be part of western Europe. “They wanted to be part of that secure, stable prosperous west that Russia was out of at the time,” he said. However, Putin asked Robertson when NATO was going to invite Russia to join. Robertson replied that there is no invitation necessary, and that any country can apply to NATO and that's what Russia can do. Robertson recalls that the Russian president said that he did not want to wait in line with "countries that don’t matter." And that was it. Putin was indignant that Russia would have to go through an application process, instead of just being signed up with no conditions. On one level, it sounds ridiculous, but on another, given the unrealistic demands Putin has made with Ukraine, it sounds very much like something Putin would do. Has anyone out there heard more details on this issue of Putin wanting to join NATO, but refusing to apply? My guess is that Putin would never agree to NATO's terms and conditions anyway, so why would he even express interest in being accepted into NATO?
I would have to see the video in which Mr. Varoufakis states what you are saying he Putin had interest in NATO. A intuative level reasoning for Putin to wish to join NATO rapidly with no conditions would be to in fact go to war for teritoy with Georgia and Ukraine. All three countries would have had to be wish to join NATO and allowed in rapidly with no conditions. Russia would have lost interst if Georgia and Ukraine were treated equal to Russia's potential entery. Russia would be interested in joining NATO only in a context that allowed them to expand thier borders with as little resistance as possible, as they prove again and again. A quick look into what the USA and what broader NATO reaction was during that time, would illustrate why Russia might think they could get away with war to expand thier borders as a member of NATO. In short there may not be a war in Ukraine, because it would have started almost two decades ago. The USA might have even been fighting along side Russians against Ukraine. What was the name of that Republican President that never was held accountable? No not that one, no not that one, not that one either, not that one...but they did have the same last name.
@@Norecoup Thank you for your reply, although I can't fathom why Russia being in NATO would help them go to war with Georgia and Ukraine at that time, when Putin first took office. I will link to the timestamp in the video I watched, but if it doesn't appear, here is the relevant sentence by Varoufakis: "You remember, Putin when he first became President he suggested that Russia join NATO, and he was turned away." As I said in my comment above, the head of NATO then says he wasn't turned away, and instead was told he could apply, like any other country can apply, but that wasn't good enough for Putin. th-cam.com/video/V8eOfXPAYPo/w-d-xo.html Also, about Putin going to war shortly after coming to power, although leaders sometimes start wars to gain support, Russia was in a chaotic post-Soviet period, riddled with terrible problems, and Putin would have been in no position to be starting wars. He had to establish a reputation as someone who could enact reforms, and stabilize the country and economy. When Putin first took office, the Russian economy grew for 8 consecutive years. I'm interested in Putin's motivation for joining NATO at that time, whether it was sincere, because he wanted to cooperate with the West and be a part of Europe, or whether it was just a cynical ploy of some sort, and that he had very imperial ideas for Russia that early. Putin had no desire to return to Communism, but he wanted the greatness and the power of the former Soviet Union. So, someone who knows about NATO at that time, would Russia have been accepted if they applied? Or, was Putin serious? Would the head of NATO had a reason to not want Russia in NATO? In the video I linked to above, Veroufakis talks a lot more about the IMF and the West trying to crush Russia, and other things I don't disagree with. BTW, the some of the other video interviews on the OTV (Ontario Canada Public TV) TH-cam channel are great. I wish they had comments though.
@@Timzart7 Thank you for your reply and link to the video. I will watch the whole thing soon. I am not a NATO or Putin scholar, but I think Mr. Varoufakis is summerizing Russia not recieving special treatment entry into NATO. Putin's rise was expliotative to say the least, not a good prospect for NATO membership. I would look more into NATO Russian Council and CFE Treaty, more for what your looking for. I will watch the whole video you linked before I comment any further. I have already done too much speculation into Mr. Varoufakis. I tend to agree with him, however if I am correct, I feel that would be a misrepresentation of NATO Russian dynamics.
@@bar1825 Bad is winning, the sociopaths, the greedy, the capitalists are winning because they don't follow the rules, they don't do the correct thing or value anything but themselves. So we all live in a cesspool of corruption where the evil people rise and the good people are trampled.
Yes we need to evolve as a species of humans , not limiting this understandings to the next level of emotional dimension of true sharing of resources, not manipulation done by market makers. Unless we accumulate wealth, die without truly tasting the feelings of compassion of course enriched by wisdom. As ethical economics is the key, it's execution in collaboration as much as possible while educating the benefits of everybody rising together to the populace of the rich West to keep their fears and attachment to the status quo. We need tocreate an ideas mo.entum towards ideas revolution.
38:00 Clearly this is completely accepted "wisdom", so I'm going to get a lot of people saying how stupid I am, but I would really like to know how on earth higher interest rates are supposed to lower prices (i.e. decrease inflation) Think of it: If, as an individual, I not only have to pay exorbitant prices to own a home, but now also have to pay half a million $ more in interest (over the lifetime of the mortgage) and therefore also $1,000-$3,000 more in monthly payments, then doesn't this clearly put more pressure on me to try to increase my salary and demand more pay, which is exactly the same pressure that already INCREASES (not decreases!) inflation Same for a business: If it costs me more to borrow money to invest in my business, well, then I will have a lot of pressure to increase my income, which usually means I have to increase prices, which again: INCREASES Inflation. Sure, we can say that eventually we are just going to break down, can't afford to buy any homes at all, can't afford to borrow any money for our business, and this will eventually lead to lower prices because no one can afford to buy anything anymore (people can't buy homes and businesses can't stock inventory--therefore there will be DOWNWARD price pressure on these commodities). But what kind of a solution is that??!!!! It also isn't anything different then what is already happening: Increasing prices do the same thing...so by that logic INFLATION actually eventually stops INFLATION; and rising interest rates are not a measure to fight inflation, but instead just a SYMPTOM of inflation, i.e. another "price" (the price of money) that is rising BECAUSE of inflation. It simply rises because those who make money by HAVING (or lending) money simply want more profit also, because THEIR prices are also going up. So let's stop pretending we are fighting inflation by raising interest rates and admit that we are raising them so the investor class can keep their profits in line with inflation ...or someone needs to give us a MUCH BETTER explanation how having to pay even more for our home and/or business does ANYTHING to lower the pressure on us to increase our salaries/prices/income.
Oh, and I need to preface that with saying that in many ways I absolutely LOVE Yanis and he has much good to contribute to what our future can/should like, but: When he says that if we can't afford houses, we should just live in "social housing" then he is really disingenuous. He recently had many videos filmed in his kitchen, and you can see that out the window, only green space is visible outside his home--making it clear that, at least where I live his home would be in the $2Million+ range....and then to say we should just live in social housing, which at least in the US means slums and "projects" and the like (and I am sure even in Europe it is not where HE would like to live himself--that is not in line with the compassion he otherwise seems to have for "regular folks". It's a bit of a "let them eat cake" comment!
Hi there, I thought I'd take the time to try reply. The idea behind raising interest rates is exactly that it makes mortgages less affordable in the near term, the effect that this has is that it is meant to stop people from buying so many houses which stops house prices from rising quite so fast, in many countries we have seen house prices bound upwards as a direct result of low rates and 'retail' spending habbits shifting w/ covid. Higher prices of course mean that purchasers will have greater mortgages to service despite low rates (and yes more expensive than a cheap house with high rates on a sliding scale) and that in general more people are priced out. So, we are stuck between a rock and a hard place with interest rate policy. What irks me is that there is no natural self regulation of the financial/housing/economic system and that instead governments are self empowered to toy around with the common folks' buying power. And just briefly, there are cases to made for social housing if done right, however, systemically, the issue of looking after the people as a general aim is hard as it is highly complex but also there are low bearing fruit that should be grasped immediately. Such as aiming for 0 unemployment to give labour their fair share of power and balancing how the global south work so hard for so little for cheap prices of goods and therein comfort in the global North. Hope this helps a little
@@xian2708 Thank you. Yes, I think in principle I agree with the concerns and direction you indicate. I just find that when it is said that interest rates are being raised so regular folks can't buy as many houses and this is defined as "fighting inflation", this is not quite accurate. For 2 reasons: 1: By this logic, Inflation itself is "fighting inflation". When gas (or house) prices rise, then eventually people won't be able to buy as much gas (or houses), so this will eventually bring the price back down as well (but FIRST it creates pressure for a price-wage spiral, which is the opposite of "fighting inflation") 2. House prices are already primarily spiking, not because regular people have so much money to bid the prices up, but because Wall Street firms are buying up most of them as investment properties. These firms have plenty capital and do not need mortgages. Increasing interest rates will not stop them. On the contrary it will make sure that it will be ONLY them, who can continue to afford houses. The exact OPPOSITE of what we want, I would think. Yes, eventually they may start to get out of the housing market because the sky high interest rates themselves will give them even better investment returns. But again: This is "fighting inflation" by exacerbating the real problems of our financial system. Much better ways to control housing prices would be regulations like they are common in Europe, where real estate markets simply don't fluctuate that much, and housing is thought of primarily as HOUSING and not INVESTMENT OPPORTUNITIES.
I really enjoyed the discussion of the green transition, 8% of GDP, collective action towards federation leading to a better life for all European children.
İnteresting and optimistic, though the time frame i believe is unrealistic. "Economic Justice" can it really happen in a FED. İf it is so difficult in "A' country? Materialistic initiatives for anything can be achieved (if we really wanted to go green no issues, however poor countries as was stipulated in COP26 will need assistance that the rich countries may not be able to sustain, current events notwithstanding) however ideological hurdles are insurmountable. We have witnessed "nationalism, bias, prejudice..etc" with the refugee crisis that EU was faced with...etc.The physical boundary of EU is also not defined Russia is considered to be a European nation others are in waiting for accession and from wikipedia quote: "After the ten founding members in 1949, Turkey became one of the first new members (the 13th member) of the Council of Europe in 1950"...to be a FED a US type North-South civil war should not be required but the current conflict has not dissuaded anyone has it. Simulation of FED can be achieved but a definitive set of fair and equitable rules/mandate/regulations/laws are required then again how and who enforces it just like the EU army scenario who will be given that responsibility take Interpol...there are countries that would like the extradition of "international criminals" that is not happening..."baby steps" is EU ready? Like the prime directive story of star trek, a civilisation needs to be ready for a specific advancement to hold. US federation has it's critics within the states and discussions like will the states dissolve, need I mention Donald Trump?🤔
Always love to hear and see Yanis
Maybe the one guy in the world who knows what the hell is going on. He is desperately needed.
He's not the only. We need to find a way to join and organise
no, the elite don´t like him, and he is caged with the poor leftist UBI people
I have a question about something I heard Mr. Varoufakis say on another TH-cam channel -- it's in Canada and comments are blocked -- in relation to Putin and some early interest he had in Russia joining NATO, and how it conflicts with an article I read on that. Mr. Varoufakis said something to the effect that Putin took an interest in NATO, and that if they'd been allowed to join, the current Russian invasion of Ukraine would not have happened. That makes sense.
However, In an article in the Guardian from late 2021, George Robertson, a former Labour defence secretary who led NATO between 1999 and 2003, said Putin made it clear at their first meeting that he wanted Russia to be part of western Europe. “They wanted to be part of that secure, stable prosperous west that Russia was out of at the time,” he said. However, Putin asked Robertson when NATO was going to invite Russia to join. Robertson replied that there is no invitation necessary, and that any country can apply to NATO and that's what Russia can do. Robertson recalls that the Russian president said that he did not want to wait in line with "countries that don’t matter." And that was it. Putin was indignant that Russia would have to go through an application process, instead of just being signed up with no conditions.
On one level, it sounds ridiculous, but on another, given the unrealistic demands Putin has made with Ukraine, it sounds very much like something Putin would do. Has anyone out there heard more details on this issue of Putin wanting to join NATO, but refusing to apply? My guess is that Putin would never agree to NATO's terms and conditions anyway, so why would he even express interest in being accepted into NATO?
I would have to see the video in which Mr. Varoufakis states what you are saying he Putin had interest in NATO. A intuative level reasoning for Putin to wish to join NATO rapidly with no conditions would be to in fact go to war for teritoy with Georgia and Ukraine. All three countries would have had to be wish to join NATO and allowed in rapidly with no conditions. Russia would have lost interst if Georgia and Ukraine were treated equal to Russia's potential entery. Russia would be interested in joining NATO only in a context that allowed them to expand thier borders with as little resistance as possible, as they prove again and again.
A quick look into what the USA and what broader NATO reaction was during that time, would illustrate why Russia might think they could get away with war to expand thier borders as a member of NATO.
In short there may not be a war in Ukraine, because it would have started almost two decades ago. The USA might have even been fighting along side Russians against Ukraine. What was the name of that Republican President that never was held accountable? No not that one, no not that one, not that one either, not that one...but they did have the same last name.
@@Norecoup Thank you for your reply, although I can't fathom why Russia being in NATO would help them go to war with Georgia and Ukraine at that time, when Putin first took office. I will link to the timestamp in the video I watched, but if it doesn't appear, here is the relevant sentence by Varoufakis: "You remember, Putin when he first became President he suggested that Russia join NATO, and he was turned away." As I said in my comment above, the head of NATO then says he wasn't turned away, and instead was told he could apply, like any other country can apply, but that wasn't good enough for Putin.
th-cam.com/video/V8eOfXPAYPo/w-d-xo.html
Also, about Putin going to war shortly after coming to power, although leaders sometimes start wars to gain support, Russia was in a chaotic post-Soviet period, riddled with terrible problems, and Putin would have been in no position to be starting wars. He had to establish a reputation as someone who could enact reforms, and stabilize the country and economy. When Putin first took office, the Russian economy grew for 8 consecutive years.
I'm interested in Putin's motivation for joining NATO at that time, whether it was sincere, because he wanted to cooperate with the West and be a part of Europe, or whether it was just a cynical ploy of some sort, and that he had very imperial ideas for Russia that early. Putin had no desire to return to Communism, but he wanted the greatness and the power of the former Soviet Union.
So, someone who knows about NATO at that time, would Russia have been accepted if they applied? Or, was Putin serious? Would the head of NATO had a reason to not want Russia in NATO?
In the video I linked to above, Veroufakis talks a lot more about the IMF and the West trying to crush Russia, and other things I don't disagree with. BTW, the some of the other video interviews on the OTV (Ontario Canada Public TV) TH-cam channel are great. I wish they had comments though.
@@Timzart7 Thank you for your reply and link to the video. I will watch the whole thing soon.
I am not a NATO or Putin scholar, but I think Mr. Varoufakis is summerizing Russia not recieving special treatment entry into NATO. Putin's rise was expliotative to say the least, not a good prospect for NATO membership.
I would look more into NATO Russian Council and CFE Treaty, more for what your looking for.
I will watch the whole video you linked before I comment any further. I have already done too much speculation into Mr. Varoufakis. I tend to agree with him, however if I am correct, I feel that would be a misrepresentation of NATO Russian dynamics.
Why doesn't the world listen and follow the advise of Yanis Varoufakis? If we did, the world would be a much better place.
That is what Russians said about Marx century ago. Didn't end well.
@@bar1825 Bad is winning, the sociopaths, the greedy, the capitalists are winning because they don't follow the rules, they don't do the correct thing or value anything but themselves. So we all live in a cesspool of corruption where the evil people rise and the good people are trampled.
we are programmed to fear what benefits the many.
he is not with the elite side
Amen
Yes we need to evolve as a species of humans , not limiting this understandings to the next level of emotional dimension of true sharing of resources, not manipulation done by market makers. Unless we accumulate wealth, die without truly tasting the feelings of compassion of course enriched by wisdom. As ethical economics is the key, it's execution in collaboration as much as possible while educating the benefits of everybody rising together to the populace of the rich West to keep their fears and attachment to the status quo. We need tocreate an ideas mo.entum towards ideas revolution.
Brilliant Economist who sees the future
exactly the problem
I could listen to Yanis everyday. He’s our last hope!
Where are you from??
38:00 Clearly this is completely accepted "wisdom", so I'm going to get a lot of people saying how stupid I am, but I would really like to know how on earth higher interest rates are supposed to lower prices (i.e. decrease inflation)
Think of it: If, as an individual, I not only have to pay exorbitant prices to own a home, but now also have to pay half a million $ more in interest (over the lifetime of the mortgage) and therefore also $1,000-$3,000 more in monthly payments, then doesn't this clearly put more pressure on me to try to increase my salary and demand more pay, which is exactly the same pressure that already INCREASES (not decreases!) inflation
Same for a business: If it costs me more to borrow money to invest in my business, well, then I will have a lot of pressure to increase my income, which usually means I have to increase prices, which again: INCREASES Inflation.
Sure, we can say that eventually we are just going to break down, can't afford to buy any homes at all, can't afford to borrow any money for our business, and this will eventually lead to lower prices because no one can afford to buy anything anymore (people can't buy homes and businesses can't stock inventory--therefore there will be DOWNWARD price pressure on these commodities). But what kind of a solution is that??!!!!
It also isn't anything different then what is already happening: Increasing prices do the same thing...so by that logic INFLATION actually eventually stops INFLATION; and rising interest rates are not a measure to fight inflation, but instead just a SYMPTOM of inflation, i.e. another "price" (the price of money) that is rising BECAUSE of inflation. It simply rises because those who make money by HAVING (or lending) money simply want more profit also, because THEIR prices are also going up.
So let's stop pretending we are fighting inflation by raising interest rates and admit that we are raising them so the investor class can keep their profits in line with inflation
...or someone needs to give us a MUCH BETTER explanation how having to pay even more for our home and/or business does ANYTHING to lower the pressure on us to increase our salaries/prices/income.
Oh, and I need to preface that with saying that in many ways I absolutely LOVE Yanis and he has much good to contribute to what our future can/should like, but: When he says that if we can't afford houses, we should just live in "social housing" then he is really disingenuous. He recently had many videos filmed in his kitchen, and you can see that out the window, only green space is visible outside his home--making it clear that, at least where I live his home would be in the $2Million+ range....and then to say we should just live in social housing, which at least in the US means slums and "projects" and the like (and I am sure even in Europe it is not where HE would like to live himself--that is not in line with the compassion he otherwise seems to have for "regular folks". It's a bit of a "let them eat cake" comment!
Hi there, I thought I'd take the time to try reply. The idea behind raising interest rates is exactly that it makes mortgages less affordable in the near term, the effect that this has is that it is meant to stop people from buying so many houses which stops house prices from rising quite so fast, in many countries we have seen house prices bound upwards as a direct result of low rates and 'retail' spending habbits shifting w/ covid. Higher prices of course mean that purchasers will have greater mortgages to service despite low rates (and yes more expensive than a cheap house with high rates on a sliding scale) and that in general more people are priced out. So, we are stuck between a rock and a hard place with interest rate policy. What irks me is that there is no natural self regulation of the financial/housing/economic system and that instead governments are self empowered to toy around with the common folks' buying power. And just briefly, there are cases to made for social housing if done right, however, systemically, the issue of looking after the people as a general aim is hard as it is highly complex but also there are low bearing fruit that should be grasped immediately. Such as aiming for 0 unemployment to give labour their fair share of power and balancing how the global south work so hard for so little for cheap prices of goods and therein comfort in the global North. Hope this helps a little
@@xian2708 Thank you. Yes, I think in principle I agree with the concerns and direction you indicate. I just find that when it is said that interest rates are being raised so regular folks can't buy as many houses and this is defined as "fighting inflation", this is not quite accurate. For 2 reasons: 1: By this logic, Inflation itself is "fighting inflation". When gas (or house) prices rise, then eventually people won't be able to buy as much gas (or houses), so this will eventually bring the price back down as well (but FIRST it creates pressure for a price-wage spiral, which is the opposite of "fighting inflation")
2. House prices are already primarily spiking, not because regular people have so much money to bid the prices up, but because Wall Street firms are buying up most of them as investment properties. These firms have plenty capital and do not need mortgages. Increasing interest rates will not stop them. On the contrary it will make sure that it will be ONLY them, who can continue to afford houses. The exact OPPOSITE of what we want, I would think. Yes, eventually they may start to get out of the housing market because the sky high interest rates themselves will give them even better investment returns. But again: This is "fighting inflation" by exacerbating the real problems of our financial system. Much better ways to control housing prices would be regulations like they are common in Europe, where real estate markets simply don't fluctuate that much, and housing is thought of primarily as HOUSING and not INVESTMENT OPPORTUNITIES.
Ok
I really enjoyed the discussion of the green transition, 8% of GDP, collective action towards federation leading to a better life for all European children.
Can you see this?? I’m in USA NJ.
Good video. the plesure is mine, Yanis. I just bought your book "Global Minetour!
İnteresting and optimistic, though the time frame i believe is unrealistic. "Economic Justice" can it really happen in a FED. İf it is so difficult in "A' country? Materialistic initiatives for anything can be achieved (if we really wanted to go green no issues, however poor countries as was stipulated in COP26 will need assistance that the rich countries may not be able to sustain, current events notwithstanding) however ideological hurdles are insurmountable. We have witnessed "nationalism, bias, prejudice..etc" with the refugee crisis that EU was faced with...etc.The physical boundary of EU is also not defined Russia is considered to be a European nation others are in waiting for accession and from wikipedia quote: "After the ten founding members in 1949, Turkey became one of the first new members (the 13th member) of the Council of Europe in 1950"...to be a FED a US type North-South civil war should not be required but the current conflict has not dissuaded anyone has it. Simulation of FED can be achieved but a definitive set of fair and equitable rules/mandate/regulations/laws are required then again how and who enforces it just like the EU army scenario who will be given that responsibility take Interpol...there are countries that would like the extradition of "international criminals" that is not happening..."baby steps" is EU ready? Like the prime directive story of star trek, a civilisation needs to be ready for a specific advancement to hold. US federation has it's critics within the states and discussions like will the states dissolve, need I mention Donald Trump?🤔
Yanis for President of the EU
Beautiful Brain.....🌍
I would never give up hope even if the possibility indicates it!
Oh man, what an incredibly hot guy! a real alpha male
🌶️🌹♥️💙💚💛💜😍😘
we have SMR reactors, so power is no problem for the elite
The moral of the story - neither unity, nor ethics. Very, very sad.
Make the rule no more money to the richest people
Universal basic serfdom? No thanks
Are we all from USA.
No they building the starship.
How come all the protaganist
like hydrogen is the better way for an inclusive world, but who will vote for it?
Are christian. ?.