Exclusive: Yanis Varoufakis opens up about his five month battle to save Greece (7-13-15)

[mother earth]

In his first interview since resigning, Greece's former Finance Minister says the Eurogroup is “completely and utterly” controlled by Germany, Greece was “set up” and last week’s referendum was wasted.

Greece has finally reached an agreement with its creditors. The specifics have not yet been published, but it is clear that the deal signed is more punitive and demanding than the one that its government has spent the past five months desperately trying to resist.

The accord follows 48 hours in which Germany demanded control of Greece’s finances or its withdrawal from the euro. Many observers across Europe were stunned by the move. Yanis Varoufakis was not. When I spoke with Greece’s former finance minister last week, I asked him whether any deal struck in the days ahead would be good for his country.

“If anything it will be worse,” he said. “I trust and hope that our government will insist on debt restructuring, but I can’t see how the German finance minister [Wolfgang Schäuble] is ever going to sign up to this. If he does, it will be a miracle.”

It’s a miracle the Greek people are likely to be waiting for a long time for. On Friday night, when Greece’s parliament agreed to an austerity programme that voters had overwhelmingly rejected in a referendum five days earlier, a deal seemed imminent. A partial write-off of its debt owed to the so-called "Troika" – the IMF, the European Central bank and the European Commission – was unlikely but possible. Now, despite its government’s capitulation, Greece has no debt relief and may yet be thrown out of the Eurozone.

MORE:
http://www.newstatesman.com/world-affairs/2015/07/exclusive-yanis-varoufakis-opens-about-his-five-month-battle-save-greece

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It is so hard to sift through the vast amount written about this situation, still...one never trusts the agenda, at least I don't. Here you have it straight from Varoufakis...

[PoliticAverse]

1. Time to revise the game-theory book. n/t

[mother earth]

2. Really? That's your comment? How sad for you. Personally, I think what

has played out with Greece/Syriza and these negotiations have been very revealing about the stranglehold on all nations.

If you took time to read the article, the EU group is above the law, it does not exist in legal terms of any sort.

I imagine what we will be up against when/if TPP is passed.

[PoliticAverse]

3. What it shows is that the EU Group is really Germany because Germany has most of the money.

And his game-theory book should be revised to include "he who has the gold makes the rules".

He claims that the agreement presented to Greece was not intended to be accepted - then
why did they accept it? Why did he himself say he would vote in favor of the final agreement?
He seems to confuse an agreement not intended to be accepted with creditors squeezing
their borrowers to get every thing they want out of them. He seems to not understand that
your creditors are not your friends, and the term "debt slavery" exists for a reason. Without
a realistic plan to leave the Euro Greece is at the mercy of their creditors, and as he indicates
in the article they couldn't come up with such a plan in the months since January.

The TPP at least provides a formal legal framework, that is still no reason to support it of course.

[mother earth]

4. Did you actually read the article? Your comments tell me, no. He lays out what transpired & has

no visions of bankers being friends, debt slavery does exist for a reason. The banks, these entities, the EU group, the Troika, they are above the law. Law does not exist for them, they make and break countries without regard of any kind.

As for his book, who the hell said it was about game theory? Again, you are going by something...somewhere...where you read about Varoufakis' rise....game theory, lol. There is so much more to his work and this involvement as FPM of Greece...so much more, and sadly Tsipras too, just doesn't get it. Do yourself a favor and read the article, so at least you will have a clear picture of what transpired. There is so much garbage out there, it really is difficult to sift through and find truth.

[mother earth]

5. I also think you need to revisit the "legal framework" provided by TPP, it is incredibly expensive

to take on the three man, corporate appointed legal team, nations might not be able to afford the preliminary cost to argue against a real issue, and those issues themselves are handing incredible, unprecedented power over life, the environment, everything. It is a shit sandwich to put in short order, for people, anyway.

[PoliticAverse]

6. 'shit sandwich' indeed. n/t

[magical thyme]

7. "The TPP at least provides a formal legal framework,"

three Corporate lawyers, with potential conflicts of interest, empowered to decide cases, impose unlimited fines and seize public property. With no appeals possible.

Some fucking legal framework. The legal framework of a corporate dictatorship.