Yanis Varoufakis

Yanis Varoufakis is a Greek economist, author, and politician who served as Greece’s finance minister in 2015 and founded the MeRA25 political party.

Alexis Tsipras: A Greek politician who served as prime minister from 2015 to 2019 and led the Syriza party. Tsipras appointed Varoufakis finance minister after Syriza won Greece’s January 2015 election.
MeRA25: A Greek political party founded by Yanis Varoufakis in 2018. The party is Varoufakis’s main vehicle for bringing his political program into Greek politics.
Austerity: An economic policy of reducing public spending or raising taxes to limit budget deficits or public debt. Varoufakis opposed creditor-imposed austerity measures during Greece’s debt crisis.
Greek government-debt crisis: A prolonged sovereign-debt crisis that left Greece dependent on international loans and subject to economic adjustment programs. The crisis formed the immediate backdrop to Varoufakis’s 2015 ministry.
Euclid Tsakalotos: A Greek economist and politician who succeeded Varoufakis as finance minister in 2015. Tsakalotos took over the negotiations with Greece’s creditors after Varoufakis resigned.
Democracy in Europe Movement 2025: A transnational European political movement founded in 2016 to promote democratic reform of the European Union. Varoufakis founded DiEM25 to organize support for democratic changes across Europe.
European Stability Mechanism: An intergovernmental institution that provides financial assistance to euro-area countries facing or threatened by severe financing problems. Its lending framework shaped the bailout negotiations Varoufakis challenged.
European sovereign-debt crisis: A period of financial instability beginning in 2009 in which several European countries struggled to refinance government debt. Greece’s crisis and Varoufakis’s negotiations were part of this wider turmoil.
James K. Galbraith: An American economist known for research on inequality, public policy, and macroeconomics. Galbraith advised Varoufakis during Greece’s 2015 negotiations with its creditors.
A Modest Proposal for Resolving the Eurozone Crisis: A policy plan by Yanis Varoufakis, Stuart Holland, and James K. Galbraith for addressing the eurozone’s financial crisis. It sets out a practical reform program associated with Varoufakis’s economic and political work.

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David GraeberRelated: Varoufakis and Graeber shared a public critique of debt, austerity, and financial power.