I have just read this energetic, enjoyable, at times enlightening read, Mr Varoufakis is a wonderful narrator and is able to provide a unique position on recent history.
I enjoyed the book and agreed with most of it, albeit I think the author chose to ignore Greeks systemic lack of tax receipts between 1981 and 2000, which surely have some bearing on the story. Refer to table below for tax revenue information (information sourced from https://stats.oecd.org).
By ignoring the countries widespread (almost ubiquitous) evasion of tax, I think we fail to discuss Greece’s weak State institutions. I agreed with the author that Greece’s bailouts have resulted in a large/unfair burden on the state and allowed private banks to off load their losses onto the public purse.
I would recommend this book, anyone interested in history, finance and/or politics would (I suggest) love this.
Bodley Head Childrens
07/04/2016
308
THE SUNDAY TIMES NUMBER 1 BESTSELLER The crisis in Europe is not over, it's getting worse. In this dramatic narrative of Europeâe(tm)s economic rise and spectacular fall, Yanis Varoufakis, former finance minister of Greece, âe~the emerging rock star of Europeâe(tm)s anti-austerity uprisingâe(tm) (Telegraph), shows that the origins of the collapse go far deeper than our leaders are prepared to admit âe" and that we have done nothing so far to fix them. In 2008, the universe of Western finance outgrew planet Earth. When Wall Street imploded, a death embrace between insolvent banks and bankrupt states consumed Europe. Half a dozen national economies imploded and several more came close. But the storm is far from overâe¦ From the aftermath of the Second World War to the present, Varoufakis recounts how the eurozone emerged not as route to shared prosperity but as a pyramid scheme of debt with countries such as Greece, Ireland, Portugal and Spain at its bottom. Its woeful design ensured that collapse would be inevitable and catastrophic. But since the hurricane landed Europeâe(tm)s leaders have chosen a cocktail of more debt and harsh austerity rather than reform, ensuring that the weakest citizens of the weakest nations pay the price for the bankersâe(tm) mistakes, while doing nothing to prevent the next collapse. Instead, the principle of the greatest austerity for those suffering the greatest recessions has led to a resurgence of racist extremism. Once more, Europe is a potent threat to global stability. Drawing on the personal experience of his own negotiations with the eurozoneâe(tm)s financiers and offering concrete policies and alternatives, Varoufakis shows how we concocted this mess and how we can get out of it. And The Weak Suffer What They Must? reminds us of our history in order to save European capitalism from itself.