Yanis Varoufakis

[[File:Yanis-Varoufakis-Berlin-2015-02-05.jpg|right|thumb|165px|Am I too sexy for you?]]{{politics}}
{{cquote|Yanis Varoufakis talks again, insults everybody|||''Politico''<ref>Cereulus, Laurens, [http://www.politico.eu/article/six-bluntest-statements-of-yanis-varoufakis-volkskrant-interview-schauble-dijsselbloem-tsipras-bailout-deal/ "Yanis Varoufakis talks again, insults everybody"], Politico (Updated 25 Decemer 2015, 7:11 AM CET).</ref>}}

'''Yanis Varoufakis''' is a former [[Greece|Greek]] finance minister who oversaw the high-stakes negotiations with [[Germany]] during the sovereign debt crisis.

==Political career==
Varoufakis was nominated as the finance minister by Tsipras. The five-month battle was fought in the tabloids as well as the boardroom. Yanis was picked for his ability to charm people, to the extent that a [[Portugal|Portuguese]] MP wrote, “Damn, the Greek finance minister is sexy.”<ref>https://www.ft.com/content/e449635a-ad3a-11e4-a5c1-00144feab7de</ref> ''Der Spiegel'', meanwhile, read like the introduction to the German version of ''Fifty Shades of Grey'': Naturally Schäuble is 
the big spoon
 cool, collected, a modest leader, a good teacher. Varoufakis is hysterical, egocentric, uncivilised, a naughty undergrad. (Does it go into detail about his massive reform package too?)<ref>http://www.spiegel.de/international/europe/greece-deal-shows-hostility-between-schaeuble-and-varoufakis-a-1020968.html</ref>

He resigned to assist negotiations of Greece with EU.<ref>http://www.independent.co.uk/news/world/greek-debt-crisis-live-referendum-yanis-varoufakis-tsipras-resigns-despite-referendum-no-vote-10367825.html</ref> He then created the DiEM25 (Democracy in Europe Movement 2025).<ref>https://www.rt.com/news/331927-democracy-europe-movement-disintegration/</ref> DiEM25 is a movement that aims to democratize the [[European Union]], to make states, cities, regions and even the workplace more democratic.<ref>https://diem25.org/manifesto-long/#1455748951573-1298e273-a7be</ref>

==Political ideas==
The Syriza party, of which he was a member, wanted to raise the [[minimum wage]] and nationalize hospitals.

Varoufakis called himself an "erratic [[marxist]]."<ref>https://www.theguardian.com/news/2015/feb/18/yanis-varoufakis-how-i-became-an-erratic-marxist</ref> He is in favor of a [[basic income]], which he calls an Universal Basic Dividend, funded not via personal taxation but by the state taking a share of all equity issues (and hence owning a part of every business).<ref>https://www.project-syndicate.org/commentary/basic-income-funded-by-capital-income-by-yanis-varoufakis-2016-10</ref><ref>[https://medium.com/@pplswar/finance-universal-basic-income-via-partial-public-ownership-of-all-capital-says-yanis-varoufakis-79c81b91461f Finance Universal Basic Income via Partial Public Ownership of All Capital says Yanis Varoufakis], Medium, July 14, 2017</ref> He is also opposed to austerity.<ref>https://www.theguardian.com/world/2015/dec/24/stories-2015-yanis-varoufakis-syrizas-anti-austerity-motorbiker</ref>

He believes that the [[European Union]] isn't really democratic and its policy is influenced by lobbyists, technocrats, bankers... He wants to democratize it. He also thinks capitalism is bad for democracy.<ref>''[http://www.ted.com/talks/yanis_varoufakis_capitalism_will_eat_democracy_unless_we_speak_up/transcript Capitalism will eat democracy unless we speak up]'', Yanis Varoufakis, TED Talks</ref>

==References==
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[[Category:Economics]]
[[Category:Living people]]
[[Category:Socialists]]

Categories: Economics, Living people, Socialists