Yanis Varoufakis is a member of Greece鈥檚 Parliament and parliamentary leader of MeRA25, the Greek political party belonging to DiEM25 鈥� Europe鈥檚 first transnational paneuropean movement. Previously, he served as Greece鈥檚 Finance Minister during the first six months of 2015.
Varoufakis read mathematics and economics at the Universities of Essex and Birmingham and subsequently taught economics at the Universities of East Anglia, Cambridge, Sydney, Glasgow, Texas and Athens where he still holds a Chair in Political Economy and Economic Theory. He is also Honorary Professor of Political Economy at the University of Sydney, Honoris Causa Professor of Law, Economics and Finance at the University of Torino, Visiting Professor of Political Economy at King鈥檚 College, London, and Doctor of the University Honoris Causa at University of Sussex.
He is the author of a number of best-selling books, including Another Now: Dispatches from an alternative present (London: Bodley Head, 2020), Adults in the Room: My struggle against Europe鈥檚 Deep Establishment (London: Bodley Head, 2017); Talking to My Daughter 八卦爆料 the Economy: A brief history of capitalism (London: Bodley Head, 2017), And the Weak Suffer What They Must? Europe, Austerity and the Threat to Global Stability (London: Bodley Head and NY: Nation Books, 2016); and The Global Minotaur: America, Europe and the Future of the World Economy (London: Zed Books, 2011,2015). His academic books include Economic Indeterminacy (London: Routledge, 2014); Foundations of Economics (London: Routledge, 1998); and Rational Conflict (Oxford: Blackwell, 1991).
In his own words, Varoufakis was 鈥渢hrust onto the public scene by Europe鈥檚 inane handling of an inevitable crisis鈥�. In January 2015 he was elected to Greece’s Parliament with the largest majority in the country and served as Greece鈥檚 Finance Minister (January to July 2015). During his term he experienced first hand the authoritarian inefficiency of the European Union鈥檚 institutions and had to negotiate with the Eurogroup, the European Central Bank and the International Monetary Fund. Varoufakis resigned the finance ministry when he refused to sign a loan agreement that perpetuated Greece鈥檚 debt-deflationary cycle.
In February 2016 Varoufakis co-founded DiEM25, the Democracy in Europe Movement - Europe鈥檚 first transnational movement. In March 2018 DiEM25 founded MeRA25, its Greek political party. Led by Varoufakis, MeRA25 entered Parliament with nine MPs in the July 2019 General Election.
