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Adults in the Room: My Battle with the European and American Deep Establishment by Yanis Varoufakis
krichardson's review
3.0
Interesting, although initially kind of hard to follow for someone not already familiar with the key players in EU finances. Varoufakis defensively recounts what feels like every interaction that he had during his time as Greece's finance minister, for good reason, but in my opinion unnecessarily. Still, by the end I was intrigued and appalled at the inner workings of European politics.
george_odera's review against another edition
5.0
One of the greatest political memoirs of all time.
In the aftermath of the 2008 financial crisis, Greece faced an impending sovereign debt default. This was the result of budgetary chicanery when acceding to the eurozone in 2001, running huge deficits in the years that followed, and irrational exuberance of private investors. The response of the troika (IMF, ECB, and EC) to this crisis was to fashion two bailouts that confined Greece to what was effectively a debtor's prison.
Yanis Varoufakis, hitherto an academic in Texas, took the reigns at Greece's finance ministry in January 2015 with the avowed objective of restructuring Greece's debt and opposing the troika's Hooverite conditionalities such as austerity, unsustainable budget surpluses, tax increases, privatizations, and pension cuts that had exacerbated Greece's crisis. In this mission, however, the unconventional finance minister ran into adults in the room, the world's most premier financial institutions whose interests did not align with his principles.
In what reads like a thriller in the corridors of power, Yanis explains the unimportance of being right when political capital has been staked by the most powerful establishment leaders. The book is an account of the mighty exacting what they can, and the weak suffering what they must. The book is also a depressing account of the "coup from above", where the Greek people's sovereignty is sacrificed at the altar of bureaucrats in Brussels. Yanis Varoufakis's admirable fortitude nonetheless proved no match for the troika's desire to the fiscal waterboarding of Greece.
Whilst anecdotal, Adults in the Room lends an insight into the Achilles Heel of the so-called liberal establishment. The book is an account of failures of the eurozone and the EU by extension, leading to the rise of anti-European sentiments across Europe, exemplified by Brexit and the ascendance of extremist factions in Italy, Spain, Germany, France, Hungary, and Italy. Varoufakis was a Cassandra during his 6-month tenure with the adults, making this book all the more lucid, and Europe's survival will be contingent on listening to voices like his.
One of the best books I have ever read.
In the aftermath of the 2008 financial crisis, Greece faced an impending sovereign debt default. This was the result of budgetary chicanery when acceding to the eurozone in 2001, running huge deficits in the years that followed, and irrational exuberance of private investors. The response of the troika (IMF, ECB, and EC) to this crisis was to fashion two bailouts that confined Greece to what was effectively a debtor's prison.
Yanis Varoufakis, hitherto an academic in Texas, took the reigns at Greece's finance ministry in January 2015 with the avowed objective of restructuring Greece's debt and opposing the troika's Hooverite conditionalities such as austerity, unsustainable budget surpluses, tax increases, privatizations, and pension cuts that had exacerbated Greece's crisis. In this mission, however, the unconventional finance minister ran into adults in the room, the world's most premier financial institutions whose interests did not align with his principles.
In what reads like a thriller in the corridors of power, Yanis explains the unimportance of being right when political capital has been staked by the most powerful establishment leaders. The book is an account of the mighty exacting what they can, and the weak suffering what they must. The book is also a depressing account of the "coup from above", where the Greek people's sovereignty is sacrificed at the altar of bureaucrats in Brussels. Yanis Varoufakis's admirable fortitude nonetheless proved no match for the troika's desire to the fiscal waterboarding of Greece.
Whilst anecdotal, Adults in the Room lends an insight into the Achilles Heel of the so-called liberal establishment. The book is an account of failures of the eurozone and the EU by extension, leading to the rise of anti-European sentiments across Europe, exemplified by Brexit and the ascendance of extremist factions in Italy, Spain, Germany, France, Hungary, and Italy. Varoufakis was a Cassandra during his 6-month tenure with the adults, making this book all the more lucid, and Europe's survival will be contingent on listening to voices like his.
One of the best books I have ever read.
gauss96's review against another edition
5.0
Makes me worry about the way these things are handled in Tunisia..
arturpas's review against another edition
5.0
Breathtaking policital memoir. Even if one discounts some of Varoufakis' claims, Troika's stance towards Greece is outrageous. Besides zero consideration for human suffering, the Troika showed no intent on developing policies and focused instead on bending Greece to accept ridiculous measures. The stupidity of the measures goes behind political beliefs, the underlying assumptions are so blatantly false that not even an IB analyst would pitch them.
pedro_mg's review against another edition
informative
reflective
tense
medium-paced
4.0
Reads almost like a thriller. An insight behind some of the most powerful European institutions. Varoufakis can be a little pompous at times
leonidasm's review against another edition
5.0
Ήταν στο ράφι καιρό και με περίμενε. Ήξερα ότι δυσκολα θα το πιάσω. Ο όγκος του και το θέμα έκανε την ψυχολογία μου περισσότερο εύθραυστη από όσο ήδη είναι λόγω καραντίνας. Και ήρθε μια Δευτέρα βράδυ το Agora 2 του Αυγερόπουλου στην ΕΡΤ και να τραβήξει την σκανδάλη. Ξημερώματα το είχα ήδη ξεκινήσει.
Ήμουν από τους ανθρώπους που έζησαν πολύ έντονα εκείνους τους μήνες. Θεωρούσα και ακόμα θεωρώ ότι ήταν η στιγμή μας. Ή τότε ή ποτέ. Αποδείχθηκε ποτέ. Δεν έχει σημασία που ανήκεις. Εκείνους τους μήνες καταλάβαμε ότι οι ζωές μας δεν πιάνουν μία μπροστά στα οικονομικά συμφέροντα. Ήταν μια επίδειξη δύναμης. Επιβλήθηκαν και θα ζήσουμε με αυτό. Γνωρίζοντας ότι είμαστε ένα προτεκτοράτο που επάνω του και στο παράδειγμα του στήριξαν την πολιτική τους επιβολή και εξουσία.
Ο Βαρουφάκης δίνει πολλές συνομιλίες, μέιλ, πισώπλατα μαχαιρώματα μέσα από την ίδια την κυβέρνηση, φωτίζει το ρόλο Ευρωπαίων αξιωματούχων και πως όλοι τους συνασπίζονται πίσω από το κοινό συμφέρον των τραπεζών.
Μπαίνοντας στο Goodreads να δω κριτικές με έκπληξη είδα ότι το 80% αυτών ήταν από ξένους αναγνώστες.
Λογικό. Εμείς ασχολούμαστε με τα πουκάμισα, τη μηχανή, και το ψυχολογικό προφίλ ενός ανθρώπου που κανείς δεν αρνήθηκε ότι επιστημονικά ήταν κλάσεις ανώτερος από τις μαριονέτες που αναγκάστηκε να συνδιαλαγει.
Ήμουν από τους ανθρώπους που έζησαν πολύ έντονα εκείνους τους μήνες. Θεωρούσα και ακόμα θεωρώ ότι ήταν η στιγμή μας. Ή τότε ή ποτέ. Αποδείχθηκε ποτέ. Δεν έχει σημασία που ανήκεις. Εκείνους τους μήνες καταλάβαμε ότι οι ζωές μας δεν πιάνουν μία μπροστά στα οικονομικά συμφέροντα. Ήταν μια επίδειξη δύναμης. Επιβλήθηκαν και θα ζήσουμε με αυτό. Γνωρίζοντας ότι είμαστε ένα προτεκτοράτο που επάνω του και στο παράδειγμα του στήριξαν την πολιτική τους επιβολή και εξουσία.
Ο Βαρουφάκης δίνει πολλές συνομιλίες, μέιλ, πισώπλατα μαχαιρώματα μέσα από την ίδια την κυβέρνηση, φωτίζει το ρόλο Ευρωπαίων αξιωματούχων και πως όλοι τους συνασπίζονται πίσω από το κοινό συμφέρον των τραπεζών.
Μπαίνοντας στο Goodreads να δω κριτικές με έκπληξη είδα ότι το 80% αυτών ήταν από ξένους αναγνώστες.
Λογικό. Εμείς ασχολούμαστε με τα πουκάμισα, τη μηχανή, και το ψυχολογικό προφίλ ενός ανθρώπου που κανείς δεν αρνήθηκε ότι επιστημονικά ήταν κλάσεις ανώτερος από τις μαριονέτες που αναγκάστηκε να συνδιαλαγει.
ngiff3's review against another edition
adventurous
challenging
dark
emotional
informative
reflective
sad
tense
medium-paced
5.0