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Talking to My Daughter About the Economy: or, How Capitalism Works—and How It Fails

Yanis Varoufakis,

Jacob Moe (Translator)

4.12 · Rating details · 13,464 ratings · 1,609 reviews

In Talking to My Daughter About the Economy, activist Yanis Varoufakis, Greece’s former finance minister and the author of the international bestseller Adults in the Room, pens a series of letters to his young daughter, educating her about the business, politics, and corruption of world economics.

Yanis Varoufakis has appeared before heads of nations, assemblies of experts, ...more

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Kindle Edition, 226 pages

Published May 8th 2018 by Farrar, Straus and Giroux (first published 2013)

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Aug 17, 2018 Kevin rated it it was amazing

Recommends it for: everyone

Shelves: econ-general, econ-marxism, 1-how-the-world-works, econ-macro, 2-brilliant-intros-101, econ-market, econ-finance, econ-value-labor

A favorite, surpassing the sea of ECON101 books; the storytelling alone makes me revisit this annually. The most accessible and engaging intro to "the market society" (capitalism) you can ask for, unraveling this enigma while rooted in real-life concerns and historical/global scope...

The Brilliant:
--A flow of stories grounded in real world history bringing to life the big-picture logic and consequences of our global market economy, with minimal jargon and zero abstract formulas. You can suppleme ...more

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Mar 23, 2020 Trevor rated it it was amazing · review of another edition

Shelves: economics, literature, behavioural-economics

This is a lovely book and I’ve asked both of my daughters to read it and have already started talking to one of them about it. It is nice for a couple of reasons. The first is that it explains complicated ideas in highly accessible ways. As he says at the start, you probably shouldn’t trust anyone who can’t explain even difficult concepts in a way that a reasonably educated person can understand. This is doubly true of economics, particularly since our world is run according to the dictates of e This is a lovely book and I’ve asked both of my daughters to read it and have already started talking to one of them about it. It is nice for a couple of reasons. The first is that it explains complicated ideas in highly accessible ways. As he says at the start, you probably shouldn’t trust anyone who can’t explain even difficult concepts in a way that a reasonably educated person can understand. This is doubly true of economics, particularly since our world is run according to the dictates of economists – you know, if you are going to ruin my life with your austerity policies, then you should have the decency to explain to me why I should do without health care and an education system for my kids. And more than the vague platitudes Dire Straits parodied (We’re gonna have to pay what’s owed, we’re gonna have to reap from some seed that’s been sowed).

The book uses science fiction and Greek myths to provide metaphors to help explain economic concepts. It also references some of my favourite books – like Guns, Germs and Steel – to provide a kind of ‘why us and not them’ background to economic development. He also references some ideas from behavioural economics, not least the idea that moving from transactions of social solidarity to those of financial exchange often undermine what is best and most human about our interactions. The example he gives is of people giving blood – something dear to my heart as I’ve been doing this for years. In Australia you don’t get paid for the blood you donate. I do it because I think it is a nice way to give back to society without getting to choose who you are going to help. Too much charity is about us giving to ‘people like us’ or people so distant as to be abstract concepts, more than fellow humans – I like the idea that I’ve no idea who my blood will end up in – that it could potentially be someone like my current prime minister, who I would struggle to pour water on if he was on fire.

In other countries they pay people to give blood. You might think that the countries where they pay you would end up with more blood. That they would have the people like me still doing it, but also other people (poor people perhaps) who need the money. So, A plus B ought to be more than just A alone. This isn’t how it works out. As he says, making it a financial transaction puts people off donating – because the idea of ‘selling’ your blood seems distasteful. In this case we have moved from altruism to a financial transaction – and the value of the transaction isn’t enough and perhaps never could be enough to make it seem worthwhile – whereas when it was being done for free it became something quite different.

The same thing happened years ago when a city council I used to work at contracted out a service that they once provided as a community service – meals on wheels for the elderly. The organization that won the contract thought that they would be able to continue to use the volunteers that had ‘always’ helped out. But even though the contract winner would still be delivering meals to the very same old people, the volunteers were not at all happy to be asked to donate their labour so that an organization would be able to profit from it. And the organization was planning to profit from the contract. The commodification of transactions isn’t really compatible with social solidarity.

The discussion in the book of the transition from Feudalism to Capitalism is also instructive and interesting. He links this to the enclosing of land and therefore the removal of peasants, who had to then go to towns searching for work. As such, they had to sell their labour for the first time – making their labour a commodity – something that is a precondition of capitalist production. The author is particularly good at explaining the difference between work that is done to sustain social interactions and work that is done in exchange for wages, and how the previous, in patriarchal societies, wasn’t always ‘fair’ either.

He explains the problems associated with replacing human labour with machines and how this undermines economic development since it allows those who own the machines to horde so much of society’s wealth.

I think his explanation of how and why markets are likely to fail is useful since it is so clear and so clearly, and pointedly, directed at arguments against the ‘tragedy of the commons’.

This is a fast read, and one that never gets beyond the common reader who is paying attention. It explains difficult concepts like how banks can create money out of thin air, how they have incentives to do this little magic trick a little too often, and how that ultimately means governments will need to step in as the whole thing comes crashing down. It explains how inflation and interest rates work and are interrelated. Like I said, there are a lot of otherwise complex ideas explained here in ways that are both easy to follow and, in fact, really engaging. And that is as it should be.
...more

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Apr 24, 2021 Prerna rated it it was amazing

Shelves: non-fiction, read-again-it-is-mind-blowing, socio-political-economic-theories, marxist-influences-applied-marxism

This is a farce of a review. This is the review equivalent of "felt cute, might delete later." My brain seems to be crashing. You have been warned.

Yanis Varoufakis who was the minister of finance of Greece in 2015, witnessed firsthand the workings and implementation of the worst austerity measures in recent times and so is certainly well equipped to write an econ-101 book. We'd have to be fools to not heed his warnings.

This is a very powerful book and here are some powerful things I learnt from ...more

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Jan 03, 2020 May 舞 rated it it was amazing

Shelves: nonfiction

Buddy read with R Nair

"The worst slavery is that of heavily indoctrinated happy morons who adore their chains and cannot wait to thank their masters for the joy of their subservience."

I've been meaning to read a book explaining how Capitalism works for a very long time, and I'm glad to say that this concise yet inclusive work of non-fiction delivers splendidly.

Written in very simple language, this book explains:

The necessity of surplus for states to exist.
The emergence of profit as an end of i ...more

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Oct 09, 2018 W.D. Clarke rated it it was amazing · review of another edition

Shelves: how-d-it-come-to-this

In this book, Varoufakis shows us how the growth of human civilization gave birth to the first systems of politically-legitimized inequality (and how ancient and feudal inequality, characterized by "societies with markets", gave way to a much different kind of world, that of the "market society", of capitalism, in which everyone is driven to, compelled to, sell their labour, and in which the only real value is "exchange value").

Varoufakis also takes us on a tour of several key moments that truly In this book, Varoufakis shows us how the growth of human civilization gave birth to the first systems of politically-legitimized inequality (and how ancient and feudal inequality, characterized by "societies with markets", gave way to a much different kind of world, that of the "market society", of capitalism, in which everyone is driven to, compelled to, sell their labour, and in which the only real value is "exchange value").

Varoufakis also takes us on a tour of several key moments that truly define the capitalist world as we now know it: the imposition of debt via the contract (with Marlowe's Dr. Faustus); the expansion of capitalism via debt-financed industrialisation (with Mary Shelley's Frankenstein); the "black magic" of how private bankers create money out of nothing (with John Steinbeck's The Grapes of Wrath); the irrational mysteries of money and labour markets (with Jean-Jacques Rousseau's fable of "The Stag and the Hares" and the myth of King Oedipus); and the triple threat of our current economy, automation, virtual currencies and environmental degradation (with Star Trek and The Matrix).

In the end, this is a highly entertaining and informative little book, for the neophyte and initiate alike. I wish my own father had given something like this to me when I was a teen. Varoufakis closes with a juxtaposition of two ancient Greek concepts, idiotis vs Eudaimonia: idiots are those who place themselves outside of civilization by refusing to think of the common good: an idiot is literally a privateer, someone who minds only his own business, and ignores that of others. True happiness comes from understanding our true, interconnected nature, and involves an environment and an economy in which each of us can literally "flourish", grow from tiny acorns into mighty the oak trees of our fullest potential. Varoufakis challenges his daughter to see past the conventional wisdom of those idiots whose technocratic mumbo-jumbo would prevent us from reaching toward a more democratic world, one in which eudaimonia is a possibility for everyone. I have a hunch which side his daughter Xenia (whose name's "etymology comes from the Greek word xenos , meaning ‘stranger’ or ‘foreigner’ and translates as ‘kindness to strangers’" (146) will pick. He seems like a pretty good dad.

I have a longer version of this review on my blog if you are interested in reading more about this excellent book. I have also made a "Digested read" (re-presenting, and doing some mulling over its key arguments) of it here ...more

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Nov 22, 2020 Carlos Martinez rated it it was amazing

Shelves: economics

4.5 stars, rounded up to 5 simply because of how much I enjoyed it.

This is a brilliant ABC of economics, in particular the Marxist critique of capitalism. I didn't learn all that much (mainly I got some ideas for how to Talk To My Son About the Economy), but Varoufakis is such a great storyteller, and he brings economic concepts to life in a very powerful way. An excellent primer, and goes well with the less Marxist but very useful Economics: The User's Guide. Varoufakis does a really great job ...more

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Apr 11, 2019 D. St. Germain rated it really liked it · review of another edition

Shelves: capitalism

Yanis Varoufakis, the cheeky former Greek minister of finance and a saavy economics professor, delivers an explanatory book on modern capitalism for the non-academic, using a variety of examples from European history, Greek mythology, and pop culture to make his points.

Varoufakis believes that understanding economics is key to a truly well-functioning democracy. Yet, the jargon-filled academic field of economics obscures important ideas in strange language and uses inane examples that make it ...more

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May 06, 2019 Ali Khosravi rated it it was amazing

Shelves: economics

Probably one of the best books ever written about the economy and the history of Capitalism (and to think that he finished writing it in only 9 days), the difference being that Varoufakis is not afraid to demystify and simplify his vocation whereas his colleagues have a egotistical tendency to make economic concepts sound more complicated than they actually are to attract more research funding. This is an absolute must read for every young person today, to understand what kind of a world we will ...more

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Nov 24, 2017 Malcolm rated it really liked it · review of another edition

Shelves: marxism-and-the-left, political-economy

Yanis Varoufakis, economics professor and former finance minister of Greece, subscribes to a simple view that I share: if you can’t teach your subject to kids, you’re not such a good teacher….. (OK, string theorists might get a let off on that one, but only maybe). Now, for those of us who teach history, sociology, cultural studies and the like it might seem that we’re getting off easily in comparison to Varoufakis, who teaches economics. Towards the end of the engaging and highly accessible his Yanis Varoufakis, economics professor and former finance minister of Greece, subscribes to a simple view that I share: if you can’t teach your subject to kids, you’re not such a good teacher….. (OK, string theorists might get a let off on that one, but only maybe). Now, for those of us who teach history, sociology, cultural studies and the like it might seem that we’re getting off easily in comparison to Varoufakis, who teaches economics. Towards the end of the engaging and highly accessible history of capitalism he turns his focus on those who see economics as a science, whose complex economic models obscure and obfuscate the everyday experience of those of who live with their edicts, and the window-dressing of politicians who implement their plans and advice – and he is in no way forgiving of those who make his/their area of expertise one of untrammelled confusion.

Varoufakis teaches by story-telling and cutting through the density of much that passes for economic theory to find everyday events, situation and scenarios that can help explain the points he making about money, markets, power, work & labour and global (or, rather glocal) ecosystems. In keeping with Syriza, the party for whom he became finance minister, his history is largely a Marxist one constrained by the historiographical insights of Karl Polyani while his economics is, for the most part, Keynsian, but what we might see as small-state Keynsian in that he sees a world that is predominantly democratic where decision-making rests on cooperative community approaches with a democratic state (although he doesn’t suggest the relationship between these two levels, and that’s not the point of the book). In that sense, he is working in a framework provided by fairly orthodox heterodox economics (if that’s not an oxymoron).

As orthodoxically heterodox, Varoufakis is in good company and although there is quite a lot about that outlines economic approaches that reject the dominant neo-liberal leave-it-to-the-market style, there is little I have seen that is this accessible and this engaging; he seems to have read his intended audience well. Of course, that means there are many who will find fault – for not being sufficiently Marxist or Keynsian or whatever the preferred style is, for being over-reliant on game theory or underplaying the environmental aspects of capitalism’s development and order or countless other problems. Then there are those who will find fault with his ‘oversimplification’ of economics or his politicisation of the ‘market’. One of the many things I have learned as a teacher, alongside the need for humility, is that there are many ways to tell the same story or make the same point and our readers/students/pupils need to hear several different forms to get it: we hear and read differently, and diversity in writers’/teachers’ voices is essential.

To my mind, Varoufakis has achieved something more of us should aim for; demystifying a set of social relations more often than not presented in complex ways that limit our ability to be involved in debates about and the politics of those relations. When that limitation is imposed on something as essential as ‘the economy’ it is profoundly undemocratic and dangerous. If this invigorating economics ‘text’ demystifies those relations and enhances our economic literacy, which I am convinced it must, Varoufakis has done us all a favour.

If you’re concerned that there is an economic discussion going on around you and want to get to understand the underpinning system – set aside the frankly magical and mystifying language of economic management and go for politics and systems analysis. This is good place to start – but beware it will encourage you to find more demanding texts, and so it should! I would have liked a suggestion for further reading – but Naomi Klein’s No is Not Enough is a good start. ...more

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Apr 12, 2021 Wick Welker rated it it was amazing

Shelves: nonfiction, economics, nonfiction-favorites, politics

We have two options: democratize or commoditize.

I highly enjoyed this one-sided conversation that Varoufakis has with his daughter. He lets go of the heady economic theory and just talks brass tacks: the ins, outs and flaws of market economies. He lays out some interesting and hilarious ground rules: economists don't know why they're talking about and should stop thinking of themselves as scientist on a foundation of established theory.

What we have here is a definition of the market economy and We have two options: democratize or commoditize.

I highly enjoyed this one-sided conversation that Varoufakis has with his daughter. He lets go of the heady economic theory and just talks brass tacks: the ins, outs and flaws of market economies. He lays out some interesting and hilarious ground rules: economists don't know why they're talking about and should stop thinking of themselves as scientist on a foundation of established theory.

What we have here is a definition of the market economy and the inequality that is a natural consequence. Societies used to just have simple markets: the buying and exchange of goods in a market within a society. This was transformed with the advent of surplus. Surplus is the direct driver that transformed our civilization into a market culture where everything, including human labor, is commoditized. Surplus is what causes the concentration of wealth. Surplus is the driver of the modern economy because with surplus, comes currency, credit and debt. Credit is not new. Credit is ancient. With credit and the debt it creates, bankers are able to employ their "black magic", meaning they sell money for interest rates, creating artificial market bubbles that inevitably collapse, driving bank runs and mass financial failure for those most vulnerable in the system. This isn't a flaw, it's a feature.

Enter the State, the bureaucracy, the boogieman. The lie is that the corporatist or people who actually believe free markets exist, is that the State destroys wealth and hinders innovation. But the truth is that the corporatists would not exist without the protection the State offers via state-enforced violence and also the creation of public debt. Let's make something very clear: public debt benefits the elite. Public debt benefits the market economy. In no way does the US debt in particular have any harmful effects on the economy. There is no crowding out when the State is the issuer of its own currency. Not a single private system will ever have to pay back this debt. If you believe otherwise, you have been manipulated by a politician. Public debt is a private surplus. Public debt is the guardian of the false free markets. The State steps in and puts a bandaid over the bankers black magic, propping up recycling of the market economy to being another ride around the roller coaster. This is Keynesian and MMT. It is how the world economy currently operates.

Destroying the human labor force along with the environment, and to do it faster than your competitor via AI, is the cornerstone of the current market economy. Through monopolization, tax dodging, predatory merging, weakening of unions, automation and prohibitory employee contracts, the labor force has been weakened into a serfdom. Varoufakis makes no distinction between corporate oligarchs and political bureaucrats--they are now the same. The world and the US economy is run by a corporate plutocracy. A minority of white, rich men control the world. This is an unassailable fact.

Solutions? Varoufakis offers two choices: commoditize everything or democratize everything. Commoditization will not stop. Varoufakis claims that we are far too entrenched do scale back our global market economy and the disasters that follow. It's almost like he's saying to go further. What I mean is, he's saying that you commoditize everything and democratize the ownership. The atmosphere is not owned by anyone. Hence, there is zero financial motivation to protect the atmosphere for carbon emission. However, if someone owned the atmosphere, say the public, then there could be a price for destroying the atmosphere which would incentive better environmental practices while benefiting the public.

This is a smart, brief and fascinating read by an incredibly smart person. I highly recommend. ...more

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Dec 11, 2020 Nishanth rated it it was amazing

Shelves: economics

Yanis Varoufakis just moved up a notch in my personal list of favorite authors. What an outstanding book this is. To reinforce my rating ,I would like to first mention another book Principles of Economics ,regarded as one of the more popular Economics textbooks for beginners, (I now have second thoughts as to whether there even exists such a thing as a 'Textbook' in economics) that I happened to read before I stumbled upon this gem and the contrast could not be much sharper.

Gregory Mankiw in hi Yanis Varoufakis just moved up a notch in my personal list of favorite authors. What an outstanding book this is. To reinforce my rating ,I would like to first mention another book Principles of Economics ,regarded as one of the more popular Economics textbooks for beginners, (I now have second thoughts as to whether there even exists such a thing as a 'Textbook' in economics) that I happened to read before I stumbled upon this gem and the contrast could not be much sharper.

Gregory Mankiw in his 800 page 'textbook' uses complex mathematical and statistical models, graphs, theories and so on (The Neoclassical approach I'm told) to explain how the Economy works. Yanis doesn't need all that and takes just under 200 pages to put his point across and does he do it well : In fact the words 'Supply' and 'Demand' just appear once and that too at the fag end of this book- no mean feat for someone who sets out to explain economics for introductory readers- In this book he is trying to explain how the economy works to his daughter and the way he goes about achieving this is truly heartwarming. With all due respect to Gregory Mankiw, I couldn't help but reflect on his 'textbook' after finishing this and my mind keeps going back to this passage where Yanis writes "The more I understood the economists theories and mathematics the more I realized that the so called experts in our great universities, on our TV screens etc., did not have a clue".

He then writes more scathingly and rubs salt into a mainstream economist's wounds by saying "The second raters among economic commentators" -(Now, there are quite a few of them in India with regular columns in leading newspapers ramming the neoliberal ideology into peoples minds), "not only did not understand the models of the great economists, whom they worshipped, but remarkably did not seem to care that they did not understand them".! . It is not an overstatement if I say that this book opened up a whole new world for me to explore.

The author also cautions us on the type of world we have been moving towards for quite sometime now where all 'experiential value'- is to be converted into 'exchange value', monetized and commodified. Amazon's attempt to pay our neighbors and turn them into deliverymen in order to cut their logistics costs (https://www.theguardian.com/technolog...) is a case in point that comes to mind where the experiential value of helping out our neighbors for the sheer joy of it is being turned into exchange value. This book has had me thinking long and hard and probably is the best that I have read this year. The epilogue at the end is the icing on the cake. I'm hoping to try and get my sister to read this, who isn't much of a reader I have to say. Essential reading for anyone interested in knowing how the actual economy works. ...more

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Feb 11, 2019 Rossdavidh rated it liked it · review of another edition

Shelves: black

Before he launched Progressive International with Bernie Sanders in 2018, before he wrote books on the world's response to the 2008 financial crisis, before he was Greece's Finance Minister in 2015 during high-stakes negotiations between Greece and the EU on how to cope with Greece's economic and budgetary collapse, Yanis Varoufakis wrote a book (in Greek) explaining economics to adolescents (such as his daughter). It was subsequently translated into many other languages, but not into English un Before he launched Progressive International with Bernie Sanders in 2018, before he wrote books on the world's response to the 2008 financial crisis, before he was Greece's Finance Minister in 2015 during high-stakes negotiations between Greece and the EU on how to cope with Greece's economic and budgetary collapse, Yanis Varoufakis wrote a book (in Greek) explaining economics to adolescents (such as his daughter). It was subsequently translated into many other languages, but not into English until 2017.

His daughter was, I think, around 11 years old at the time he wrote this book, although I cannot find that detail just now so I might be slightly off. In any case, he was clearly writing at someone who was old enough to talk to about complex issues like how finance works, but not so old as to already have done a lot of reading on that. The book is, of course, a good book for adults to read as well, largely because most of us have not done that much reading about how finance works either.

More importantly, much of what we have read about how finance works, is not true. In some cases it was never true, but more importantly, finance today does not work the same as it did 100-200 years ago. Most of the money in our economy, today, has no physical existence, not even as paper. Most of the government debt, is not for the purpose of the government being able to spend more (it is for financial institutions such as banks to be able to buy a reliable bond that is highly liquid, and absolutely safe).

Not everything in Varoufakis' analysis is correct, in my opinion. He seems entirely too confident in the ability of democracy to rein in government excesses on behalf of the wealthy and well-connected, and therefore not particularly worried about government accumulating more and more power. It also seems clear to me that, the larger the polity, the more remote its leaders are from any given citizen (and the closer they are to the very wealthy). Thus, the government of Greece is much closer to caring about the welfare of ordinary Greeks, than the EU, which begs the question of whether it is a good idea for Greece to have committed their economic welfare into the hands of a bunch of non-Greeks in Brussels.

But, while his view of the world and how it could/should work may not be any better than the neo-liberal ideology which reigned from the end of the Cold War until 2008, it is at least a different view, and he is at his best when he is puncturing that neo-liberal ideology by pointing out the many ways in which the reality does not match the theory.

I have a 13-year old daughter; it had occurred to me when I began reading this book that I might wish to give it to her when I was done. If she had the slightest bit of interest in economics, I probably would. In the meantime, I think reading it myself has stimulated a lot of fresh thinking about how our economy works, and how it ought to work instead. Any book that does that is worth reading. ...more

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Dec 18, 2020 Bridget McGovern rated it it was amazing

There’s nothing quite as intoxicating as a good book. I started this book this morning and finished it by the afternoon. As someone who only has a more-or-less elementary understanding of economics, this was an excellent, accessible, and digestible primer to economic theory. He does away with pretentious academic writing and draws on anecdotal stories, Greek mythology, and books/movies from popular culture to explain capitalism. He’s definitely made me excited (and more confident) to dive deeper ...more

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Feb 03, 2018 Doruntina Berisha rated it it was amazing · review of another edition

I'm surprised that people rated the book with 2 stars! But then again people who like and profit from Capitalism obviously won't like this book. The book is brilliantly written. ...more

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Jun 09, 2020 ·Karen· added it · review of another edition

Shelves: non-fiction

The first time I've ever understood Bitcoin. ...more

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Jul 10, 2020 Rob rated it it was amazing

Shelves: numbers, you-re-the-best-slippy

One of those rare books that rewards you with perspectives you’ll hold for the rest of your life.

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Aug 01, 2019 muthuvel rated it it was amazing · review of another edition

Shelves: economics, favorite

Right from the boomers upto today's newer generations of various terminologies, Economy is something that's always been a bit obscure to clarify things out. People often say it's too big to fail. In 2008, US recovered the market economy from the crises period through people's tax money of 14 trillion dollars so as to make things stable. Most of everyday influencers say that we have to leave Economics to the experts. Yanis being a Economist himself simply disagrees.

"There are no economic experts. Right from the boomers upto today's newer generations of various terminologies, Economy is something that's always been a bit obscure to clarify things out. People often say it's too big to fail. In 2008, US recovered the market economy from the crises period through people's tax money of 14 trillion dollars so as to make things stable. Most of everyday influencers say that we have to leave Economics to the experts. Yanis being a Economist himself simply disagrees.

"There are no economic experts. The economy is the way in which social power is organized - it's a question about democracy. So if we are to accept that there is a group of experts and we have to defer to them, then, effectively, we accept oligarchy."

Yanis Varoufakis, besides being an familiar economist, is a member of Hellenic Parliament and has served briefly as finance minister of Greece in 2015 before he resigned his position due to conflicts of reconciling Greek economy and European Union's. He writes a journal to his early teen daughter who lives in Australia on her innocent question on why there's so much inequality in the world that we live in.

I certainly believe that the habit of making things simple is not a matter of perception with mildly granted attitude. It's a matter of understanding and equally the ability to explicate for better perceptions. As per that, it is a rare gem of a book. Everyone especially bankers who either don't know what they're doing in the market society or perhaps, pretending not to know what they're doing, for contemporary survival, should read this work for the sake of respecting human intellect.

The book covers from the concept of surplus originating from Agricultural revolution, relations between Money and Surplus, changes in the perception of usury in the modern times, gambling adventures of bankers in the market economy and role of government in being the savours for some obvious and some obvilious reasons come into picture.

I loved the way author concluded the book by quoting T.S. Eliot, "We shall not cease from exploration
And the end of all our exploring
Will be to arrive where we started
And know the place for the first time."

I've been seriously thinking of translating the work in the native language. Of course, I dont mean to boast myself since I have no skills or experience in having done such works before but it geniunely kindled up my spirits to try for it and glad to help someone do the same. ...more

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Jan 04, 2020 R Nair rated it it was amazing · review of another edition

"If the economy is the engine of society and debt is its fuel, then labour is the spark, the life-breathing force that animates that engine, while money is the lubricant without which that engine would seize up"

A buddy read with May

Short, sweet and concise. This book explains all the essentials that a simpleton such as yours truly has been confounded by over the years and has been too embarrassed to ask anyone about. Turns out most people don't have a fair idea about statements like " Central ba ...more

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Feb 02, 2021 Laura Mitchell Hutchinson rated it it was amazing · review of another edition

Shelves: recommendations

Brilliant.

I never thought I would be able to understand anything about the economy (even though I have a business degree... Econ101 was not my forte). This book was an absolute gem to find — an economist explaining the history of economies to his young teen daughter. The language is simple enough and there are lots of familiar pop-culture stories and metaphors woven throughout to explain theories and shifts.

I learnt so much about the economy obviously but also race, history, money, technology, ...more

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Mar 08, 2017 Roel Peters rated it it was ok · review of another edition

Without doubt, Yanis Varoufakis is a brilliant man. His book, "The Global Minotaur", was a much needed alternative vision on the state of the global economy. However, in his new book, using simple examples and some history lessons, Varoufakis tries to explain his vision in words that a teenager would understand. I agree on the starting point of the book, that many theories exist solely to legitimize the position of the ruling class and rationalize inequality. Yet, despite his obsessive reference ...more

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Mar 01, 2018 Abhijeet Jain rated it it was amazing · review of another edition

Recommends it for: everyone

Shelves: economics, audio-books

Amazing book! Covers a lot of ground related to economics, from ancient Egypt system to present trend of cryptocurrencies. I especially love the way Yanis presented his views. The book gives you an interesting perspective to look at markets. A society with markets vs market societies, government vs bankers, the author talked about these in quite a detail.
Overall an interesting book. Would be re-reading it soon.

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Jan 17, 2018 Dan Hamilton rated it it was amazing · review of another edition

Yanis has done something noble here. He’s taken an endlessly complex topic and brought it down to a level understandable by anyone willing to listen. And he’s done so with wit, wisdom, and an unmistakable moral clarity.

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May 25, 2018 Coral Davies rated it it was amazing · review of another edition

"Leaving the economy to the experts is the equivalent of those who lived in the Middle Ages entrusting their welfare to the theologians, the cardinals and the Spanish inquisitors. It is a terrible idea."

A necessary book for all. Not interested in economics? Find it dull and unnacessible? Honestly give this a go. Thought-provoking and relatable, Yanis once again gets us all thinking about the important questions in life with regards to the economy and politics. ...more

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Dec 02, 2020 Tanroop rated it really liked it

A great and very accessible intro to economics.

Varoufakis writes well, in a way most will understand easily, and explains key aspects of the world we inhabit today: the birth of capitalism- putting lie to the quite frustrating belief that capitalism is "just human nature"- and market societies, the role of debt, currency, banks, and so much more.

A key takeaway is the volatility and perverse incentives that are integral to capitalism. Hopefully this book gets people thinking about alternatives. ...more

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Mar 29, 2021 Premanand Velu rated it it was amazing · review of another edition

"It would be remiss not to mention the spectre of Karl Marx" Yanis says thanking his influencers in the foreword of the book. That is an interesting way to refer to the legacy of Karl Marx as a 'Specter' coming from a close compatriot of Bernie Sanders and an evolved Marxist himself.

For some one who is getting into understanding the current economics with very little understanding of nuts and bolts of it, particularly a techie like me who never had to wade through the maze of its bewildering web "It would be remiss not to mention the spectre of Karl Marx" Yanis says thanking his influencers in the foreword of the book. That is an interesting way to refer to the legacy of Karl Marx as a 'Specter' coming from a close compatriot of Bernie Sanders and an evolved Marxist himself.

For some one who is getting into understanding the current economics with very little understanding of nuts and bolts of it, particularly a techie like me who never had to wade through the maze of its bewildering web, this is book is a nice reckoner. I have read an historical writing on Money by Yuval Harari which was very engaging read, but had lost the way when it meandered into the future. This book seems be picking off from that altitude and dives deeper into the arcane world of markets and debts.
Initially the narration style of going along the path of fables and tales from the past, - notably from the Greek Mythology - finding parallels to explain the layman reader about the complexities of the economics is an uphill task for discerning reader. However, not long after, once you get set on the narrative, it is captivating and hooks on to you very strongly so that the magic of Debt and Markets suddenly comes out of the haze very clearly.
The journey from the history of the Feudal economy with the three elements of Raw material, Land and Labor transforming into the industrial world by commodification those is convincingly explained. The author carefully avoids the usual sermonic tone that the left takes. In fact capitalism is only referred fleetingly, instead choosing more suitable phrases that appeal to the cognitive, modern world.
The way he explains the change of societies with market to a complete market society is captivating and dazzling. The way he explains the value of things, especially the difference between the commodity value and experiential value puts in perspective a lot of things like value of human labour, spread of income etc. In that sense he throws bare how the banking and debt have both fired and pulled the economy and enterprise, playing both savior and destroyer when not balanced by the society and its political setup.

"In the triumph of exchange values over experiential values, as societies with markets evolved into market societies, something else happened: money was transformed from being a means into an end."

Slowly as we ascend into the world of Markets, Debts and currency exchange, an intense sketch evolves. The seemingly muddled world of Write-offs, speculation, Private & Public Debts slowly gets clearer and clearer, explaining the fundamentals of the banks, politics & markets and how these are closely related impacting the larger society in a not so subtle and yet, deep way.
All along what strikes is that, Yanis stays true to his stated intent of explaining the economy to a little girl ( in reality an euphemism for novice readers like me ) without getting lost in the maze of technicalities of it. This could be partly because of his belief that the tenements of economy need humane touch and his refusal to accept that it should be spoken in deep technical terms thereby cutting off the larger population.

"The more scientific our models of the economy become, the less relation they bear to the real, existing economy out there. This is precisely the opposite of what obtains in physics, engineering and the rest of the real sciences, where increasing scientific sophistication throws more and more light on how nature actually works."

However, in spite of this and because of this, he comes out spectacularly clear explaining the intricacies of the seemingly cryptic scenarios and concepts with a ease and simplicity, yet missing no subtlety.
Finally as he walks us through the current and future trends, he strongly dismisses the stated objectives of taking the currency from the control of the political organization by newer means like that of the crypto currencies as a piped dream bound to fail and in the process pulling the economy down.
His thoughts about how the new cognitive world with its increased digitalization and Mechanization with the help of newer technologies can move the human race to one more Icarus moment and ways to mitigate that is something that requires a serious thought. Personally, I feel he is going off the tangent here, but then, such thoughts have propelled social transformation when harnessed properly.
In the end what comes out stronger from his voice is the assertion that economy and market needs more more transparency and accountability which can be achieved by making it more democratic and not otherwise. He asserts how Central banks and Monetary bodies need to be more involved with the people and not with entitled few.
However, this books stops there without getting into nuts and bolts of those stated objective and due to that it still has a tone of theoretical pronouncement.
In spite of all that, I would say, he has done a great job of simplifying the understanding of the larger economy without judgement and prejudice. I think this is one of the books I would recommend and gift my friends with. ...more

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Feb 21, 2021 Anurag Vaishnav rated it really liked it

As a child, when for the first time you see someone begging on the street, you wonder: why is there so much inequality in the world? The same thought comes to your mind when you get new shoes and you observe other children with holes in their shoes. You are innocent and this inequality irks you, but the only explanation you get is that some people are poor and that is just how it is.

What are the causes of this inequality, you ask? This question remains unanswered as you're a child, apparently n As a child, when for the first time you see someone begging on the street, you wonder: why is there so much inequality in the world? The same thought comes to your mind when you get new shoes and you observe other children with holes in their shoes. You are innocent and this inequality irks you, but the only explanation you get is that some people are poor and that is just how it is.

What are the causes of this inequality, you ask? This question remains unanswered as you're a child, apparently not mature enough to understand. Or perhaps because adults too don't really seem to know why either.

But this lack of understanding leads to a vicious logical contradiction that continues to shape our thinking as adults. On the one hand, you are appalled by the idea that some kids cry themselves to sleep because they are hungry; on the other, you are thoroughly convinced that your clothes and your house rightfully belong to you as you worked hard for it.

As Yanis Varoufakis puts it: "When our eyes fall on those who lack the bare necessities, we sympathise and express outrage that they do not have enough, but we do not for a moment allow ourselves to think that their deprivation may be the product of the same process that led to our affluence. This is the same psychological mechanism that convinces the haves and those in power that it is right, proper, and necessary for them to have more while others have much less."

In this way, inequality becomes a self-perpetuating ideology.

In this book, Yanis Varoufakis explores the issue of inequality in market economies. Most economists would argue that these questions are far too complex for a layman to comprehend. They would use jargons that obfuscate rather than illuminate. Varoufakis breaks down the different aspects of political economy in a language simple enough for his 12-year old daughter to understand. But why bother explaining this to 12-year olds? Because economy is too important to be left to the economists and politics is too important to be left to the politicians.

In this short and simple read, Yanis Varoufakis has succinctly explained the nuances of political economy in the world today with references from pop culture, literature, and ancient wisdom making it an easy to understand and delightful read. ...more

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Jan 23, 2018 James rated it really liked it · review of another edition

Shelves: non-fiction, i-own-hardback, philosophy, politics

A very clear discussion of market economics presented as a series of missives to his daughter in Australia. Each chapter was short enough for a single commute into town, and draws on lots of comparisons with popular and more traditional (although mostly Greek) references to illustrate his points. Heartily recommended for anybody who, like me, wanted to have more of a grounding in a subject that I've previously had to rely on the BBC's Steph McGovern for all my knowledge. A point deducted as it f ...more

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Jul 20, 2022 Jeanette rated it liked it

It was worth the read. Historically and by definitions of full overview of operating aspects he is making quite a few "some are all" fallacy inclusions. Not that the total oversight is "wrong" but it isn't at all exact enough to make such outcome suppositions as he does. Economies have too many moving parts for these simple / basic summations towards operation and inclusions.

This isn't the forum to list all those over simplified tenets here. But one is unemployment as he defines and redefines. It was worth the read. Historically and by definitions of full overview of operating aspects he is making quite a few "some are all" fallacy inclusions. Not that the total oversight is "wrong" but it isn't at all exact enough to make such outcome suppositions as he does. Economies have too many moving parts for these simple / basic summations towards operation and inclusions.

This isn't the forum to list all those over simplified tenets here. But one is unemployment as he defines and redefines. There are individuals who chose/choose NOT to work and also some who refuse to work in every living "gain" or ownerships definition. There are takers as much as there are surplus hoarders or super wealth "goods" aficionados. Even now. And this doesn't deny that greedy gorgers exist either. And he sees only the heavy goods end of consumption.

He also almost universally leaves out longevity outcomes. Especially within populations which have always remained small and do their "proper fit" into their natural world. Like the aborigine of Australian continent he consistently mentions. My lifespan is twice their historic average now.

He also gives very short shrift to the serf life. The millennia when the owner of land also owned the serf who resided on it.

His overall picture gives government itself a much, more altruistic end result that I've ever seen anywhere or even read history concerning. Owners of surplus = bad? Operators of in class government= worse? My observation and history sense- this is often true.

Democracy as the answer? Homo sapiens own human nature. His optimal cases give almost no room for the "elephant" in the room. That human nature. And as I have seen in my 74 years the very observable decline of knowledge for nearly all aspects of word or symbol or critical thinking learning and common sense survival skills? Both, absolutely both. People are easily fooled beyond the avarice features of getting too. And the inclusion here of movie / fiction or whatever plotting as an example of a posit? I thought that was 2 star habit for this read. I know he is talking to his daughter but too simple is too simple. And fantasy IS fantasy.

My grandmother and grandfather were serfs. They lived short lives escaping from the system. No one in any of their backgrounds ever got beyond an old age of 55. Until the generations that were born "out" of that system. Present day stats for longevity should be included in this cause /effect historically re Capitalism out effects

Disease, geography, climate- they matter first. The cognitive history, their 1000's of years of reality in any one place etc. In that he DOES hold the right proportion of importance here.

Overall this book is a good learning tool. But also not at all exact. Nor impartial. Nor definitively on the nail. It also might help you to understand objects and systems like bitcoin.

But far from any full dissection to the reality of the subject. ...more

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Jul 25, 2018 Paul rated it really liked it · review of another edition

Shelves: history, economics

"When you were born, your name, Xenia, appealed to me greatly because its etymology comes from the Greek word xenos, meaning 'stranger' or 'foreigner' and translates as 'kindness to strangers'. The appeal of this name came in part from my belief that the best way to see your country, your society, is to see it through the eyes of an outsider, a refugee. [...] Doing so will grant you the opportunity to retain your freedom."

In this book, Yanis Varoufakis who is widely regarded as one of the gr

"When you were born, your name, Xenia, appealed to me greatly because its etymology comes from the Greek word xenos, meaning 'stranger' or 'foreigner' and translates as 'kindness to strangers'. The appeal of this name came in part from my belief that the best way to see your country, your society, is to see it through the eyes of an outsider, a refugee. [...] Doing so will grant you the opportunity to retain your freedom."

In this book, Yanis Varoufakis who is widely regarded as one of the greatest living economists in the world, tries to explain the most important and most widely misinterpreted topics in Economics in the most simple of ways. And he has succeeded beautifully.

Writing his words as if he was talking to his (at the time of writing) 14 years old daughter, Xenia, Varoufakis presents in each chapter a series of related economical concepts in a very smooth and graspable way. Any person, even the one completely new to economics, will be able to understand the ideas presented, appreciate them and finally see them in action in his/her life. As a person who has already studied and understood thoroughly these concepts in college, I cannot help but appreciate the simplicity in which Varoufakis was able to explain them in his book. And even though I am familiar with all the ideas, I enjoyed absorbing them in this simple way; which also gave me new ways to explain them to other people who are completely unfamiliar with them.

Not only he presents ideas and examples, Varoufakis also poses some very important questions regarding the economic/political system in our world. Questions, I am compelled to admit, are often forgotten by the so-called "professionals" in this field but usually come to the mind of the person just starting to understand economics. The problem, as Varoufakis believes and I have come to believe also, is that "economists" are sometimes (most of the times?) failing to keep their feet on the ground... a mistake that has cost and will cost the world (especially the weakest of people) a lot.

Aiming to explain, enlighten and build a critical mindset, this book is one to be remembered for a long time, I believe. ...more

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Oct 07, 2018 Jake rated it it was amazing · review of another edition

A mathematician, a software developer and an economist walks into a bar.

The bartender polishing a glass, “What is 1 + 1?”
The mathematician instantly answers, “2”.
The software developer waits until the mathematician is done, “1.999999….”
The economist looks directly into the bartenders eyes, “What do you want it to be?”

This joke was given by Varoufakis at Politics and Prose, a talk I watched before reading this book and I think it sums up his healthy cynicism of most economists. Neoliberalism and ...more

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About Yanis Varoufakis

Yanis Varoufakis

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Ioannis "Yanis" Varoufakis is a Greek-Australian economist and politician. A former academic, he has been Secretary-General of MeRA25, a left-wing political party, since he founded it in 2018. A former member of Syriza, he served as Minister of Finance from January to July 2015 under Prime Minister Alexis Tsipras. ...more

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