YANIS VAROUFAKIS
Economist; Former Minister for Finance of Greece

The world’s largest economy, the Eurozone, is governed by an informal group, the Eurogroup, which subscribes to no written rules, meets secretly and without minutes being taken, and which is accountable to no legally instituted body or Parliament. Is this the Europe that Adenauer, De Gaulle, Brandt, Kreisky, Giscard, Schmidt, Berlinguer, Kohl, Mitterrand etc. had worked towards? Or is it the epitaph of the Europe that Europeans had always thought of as a beacon of democracy, a point of reference, a compass for peoples far and wide? When politics and money are “de-politicised” what happens is that democracy dies. And when democracy dies, authoritarianism raises its ugly head, confining prosperity to the very few who cannot even enjoy it behind the gates and the fences they need to erect to protect themselves from their victims. To counter this dystopia, the people of Europe are now waking up to re-embrace a radical idea: the conviction that democracy is not a luxury afforded to creditors and declined to debtors.

Moderation:
Robert Misik, Journalist and Author

In cooperation with:
Roter Börsenkrach (RBK),
Gesellschaft Plurale Ökonomik Wien,
and Mastervertretung VW.Sozök.SEEP (WU)