The Global Minotaur

America, the True Origins of the Financial Crisis and the Future of the World Economy

Yanis Varoufakis

In this remarkable and provocative book, Yanis Varoufakis explodes the myth that financialisation, ineffectual regulation of banks, greed and globalisation were the root causes of the global economic crisis. Rather, they are symptoms of a much deeper malaise which can be traced all the way back to the Great Crash of 1929, then on through to the 1970s: the time when a ‘Global Minotaur’ was born. Just as the Athenians maintained a steady flow of tributes to the Cretan beast, so the ‘rest of the world’ began sending incredible amounts of capital to America and Wall Street. Thus, the Global Minotaur became the ‘engine’ that pulled the world economy from the early 1980s to 2008.
Today’s crisis in Europe, the heated debates about austerity versus further fiscal stimuli in the US, the clash between China’s authorities and the Obama administration on exchange rates are the inevitable symptoms of the weakening Minotaur; of a global ‘system’ which is now as unsustainable as it is imbalanced. Going beyond this, Varoufakis lays out the options available to us for reintroducing a modicum of reason into a highly irrational global economic order.
An essential account of the socio-economic events and hidden histories that have shaped the world as we now know it.

To order click here. [To download an e'book version from Waterstones, in EPub format, click here. (Note that Epub is the standard ebook format, except for Amazon Kindle. But it is possible to convert it by following this.)]

• Click here for the video of the book’s launch at Columbia University, Nov. 2011
• An interview on the Global Minotaur’s themes (in four parts), with Robert Johnson, (Chairman of the Institute for New Economic Thinking (INET), April 2013. Click: Part A (The Global Minotaur), Part B (Bankruptocracy) , Part C (The two faces of the Crisis) and Part D (Europe by Mis-Design)
• Click here for a review published in Left Eye on Books
• Click here for a review in the Los Angeles Review of Books
• Click here for an interview, regarding this book, published in Naked Capitalism
• Click here for a feature article in the New York Times that refers extensively to the Global Minotaur
• Click here for a review in Dutch

Reviews

‘The book is one of those exceedingly rare publications of which one can say they are urgent, timely and absolutely necessary.’ – Terry Eagleton
‘Yanis is one of the best, brightest and most innovative economists on the planet’ – Steve Keen, author of ‘Debunking Economics’
‘In the most comprehensive guide to the contemporary economic crisis yet written, Yanis Varoufakis traces out the path from post-war US economic supremacy to the current predicament. This book’s provocative thesis, written in lively and impassioned prose, is that which neither the US nor the EU nor any other nation can now restore robust global growth. Whether you agree or disagree, this book’s lively and impassioned prose will engage you both heart and mind, and hold you in thrall to the last word. The Global Minotaur is a masterwork that registers for all time the challenge of our time.’ – Prof. Gary Dymski, University of California, Riverside
‘If you want to know how serious the current crisis is, you should read his book. With much eloquence, Yanis Varoufakis argues that the current financial problems are connected to the emerging fault lines of the international monetary system. The US (the Minotaur) used to govern the international monetary system, but no more; and this crucially means that there is no surplus recycling mechanism that can reliably stabilise the world economy. The elephant in the room, so to speak, is a stumbling Minotaur.’ – Prof. Shaun Hargreaves-Heap, University of East Anglia
‘Yanis Varoufakis is a rare economist: skilled at explaining ideas, happy to join in public debates and able to put his discipline in a broader context. You may not agree with what he says, but you’ll enjoy the way he says it.’
Aditya Chakrabortty, The Guardian lead economics writer

So far, also available in German, in Greek and in Italian. (Other translations to follow.)

(Click the adjacent icons for a description of the specific foreign language edition.)

Table of Contents (chapters)

1. Introduction
2. Laboratories of the future
3. The Global Plan
4. The Global Minotaur
5. The Beast’s Handmaidens
6. Crash
7. The Handmaidens Strike Back
8. The Minotaur’s Global Legacy: The Dimming Sun, the Wounded Tigers, a Flighty Europa and an Anxious Dragon
9. A future without the Minotaur?

About the Author:

Born in Athens, 1961, Varoufakis completed his secondary education in Greece before moving to England where he read mathematics and economics at the Universities of Essex and Birmingham. After teaching in various British Universities (Essex, East Anglia, Cambridge, Glasgow), he spent twelve years teaching at the University of Sydney (Australia) before, eventually, returning to Athens where he now directs the University of Athens’ Political Economy Division. This is his first book intended for a broad audience. His earlier, more stuffy, books include Modern Political Economics: Making sense of the post-2008 world (with J. Halevi and N. Theocarakis, Routledge), Game Theory: A critical text (with S. Hargreaves-Heap, Routledge), Foundations of Economics: A beginner’s companion (Routledge) and Rational Conflict (Blackwell). Recently, he has emerged as an active participant in the debates over the Global, European and Greek Crises as well as a co-founder of www.vitalspace.org