the unbalanced evolution of homo sapiens

Angela Merkel’s tenure will be remembered as Germany’s, and Europe’s, cruelest paradox. On the one hand, she dominated the continent’s politics like no other peacetime leader — and is leaving the German chancellery considerably more powerful than she had found it. But the way she built up this power condemned Germany to secular decline and the European Union to stagnation.   by Yanis Varoufakis  Part 5 - A Concluding Lament   She casually engineered a humanitarian crisis in my country to camouflage the bailout of quasi-criminal German bankers, while turning proud European nations against one another. She intentionally sabotaged every opportunity to bring Europeans together. She skillfully connived to undermine any genuine green transition in Germany or across Europe. She worked tirelessly to emasculate democracy and to prevent the democratization of a hopelessly antidemocratic Europe. And yet watching the pack of faceless, banal politicians jostling to replace her, I very much fear tha

Angela Merkel’s tenure will be remembered as Germany’s, and Europe’s, cruelest paradox. On the one hand, she dominated the continent’s politics like no other peacetime leader — and is leaving the German chancellery considerably more powerful than she had found it. But the way she built up this power condemned Germany to secular decline and the European Union to stagnation.   by Yanis Varoufakis  Part 4 - Episode 3: To the Bitter End The pandemic offered Angela Merkel a final chance to bring Germany and Europe together. Great new public debt was inevitable, even in Germany, as governments sought to replace incomes lost during the lockdown. If there was ever a moment for a break with the past, this was it. The moment was crying out for German surpluses to be invested across a Europe that, simultaneously, democratizes its decision-making processes. But Angela Merkel’s final act was to ensure that this moment would be missed, too. In March 2020, in a fit of harmonized panicking following o

Angela Merkel’s tenure will be remembered as Germany’s, and Europe’s, cruelest paradox. On the one hand, she dominated the continent’s politics like no other peacetime leader — and is leaving the German chancellery considerably more powerful than she had found it. But the way she built up this power condemned Germany to secular decline and the European Union to stagnation.   by Yanis Varoufakis  Part 3 - Episode 2: Pan-European Austerity When Lehman Brothers went bust in September 2008, its last CEO begged the US government for a gigantic credit line to keep his bank afloat. Suppose that, in response, the US president had replied: “No bailout and, also, I am not allowing you to file for bankruptcy!” It would be utterly absurd. And yet that was precisely what Angela Merkel told the Greek prime minister in January 2010 when he desperately begged for help to avoid declaring the Greek state bankrupt. It was like telling a falling person: I am not going to catch you, but you are not allowed

Angela Merkel’s tenure will be remembered as Germany’s, and Europe’s, cruelest paradox. On the one hand, she dominated the continent’s politics like no other peacetime leader — and is leaving the German chancellery considerably more powerful than she had found it. But the way she built up this power condemned Germany to secular decline and the European Union to stagnation.   by Yanis Varoufakis  Part 2 - Episode 1: Pan-European Socialism for Germany’s Bankers In 2008, as banks on Wall Street and in the City of London crumbled, Angela Merkel was still fostering her image as the tightfisted, financially prudent Iron Chancellor. Pointing a moralizing finger at the Anglosphere’s profligate bankers, she made headlines in a speech in Stuttgart where she suggested that America’s bankers should have consulted a Swabian housewife, who would have taught them a thing or two about managing their finances. Imagine her horror when, shortly afterwards, she received a barrage of anxious phone calls fr

Angela Merkel’s tenure will be remembered as Germany’s, and Europe’s, cruelest paradox. On the one hand, she dominated the continent’s politics like no other peacetime leader — and is leaving the German chancellery considerably more powerful than she had found it. But the way she built up this power condemned Germany to secular decline and the European Union to stagnation.   by Yanis Varoufakis  Part 1 - Wealth-Fueled Decline There is no doubt that Germany is today stronger politically and economically than it was when Merkel became chancellor back in 2005. However, the very reasons Germany is stronger are the same reasons why her decline is assured within a stagnating Europe. Germany’s power is the result of three massive surpluses: its trade surplus, the structural surplus of its federal government, and the inflows of other people’s money into the Frankfurt banks, as a result of the slow-burning, never-ending euro crisis. While Germany is swimming in cash, courtesy of these three sur