Yanis Varoufakis resigns despite referendum no vote

http://www.theguardian.com/world/2015/jul/06/greek-finance-minister-yanis-varoufakis-resigns-despite-referendum-no-vote

by ivank • 11 years ago

36 61 11 years ago

gii2• 11 years ago

Well, he already did his job. Greece is rolling down the slope...

kenOfYugen• 11 years ago

Greece has been rolling down the slope for the past 5 years. Hating on a man for years of a country's peril does not offer constructive criticism.

Maybe you should know the data before you blame a man. How about some charts and numbers from December 2014: http://www.telegraph.co.uk/finance/economics/11283931/Nine-c...

wsc9812• 11 years ago

It's sad that certain creditors didn't want to negotiate with Yanis anymore. To me, it seems he's a true hero of his nation, putting the needs of his people before the needs of the creditors. I wish politicians in my country (The Netherlands) would be more like him. Our politicians on the other hand seem to do anything the EU tells them, possibly in hope for a cozy, well-payed EU job in the future.

Yanis will wear the creditors' loathing with pride: http://yanisvaroufakis.eu/2015/07/06/minister-no-more/

bbv-if• 11 years ago

Indeed, a true hero who wrecked his country and resigned.

gonvaled3• 11 years ago

You can see it like that.

You can also see it like this: he gave voice to the people, and accepted to step aside when pressured by the powers-that-be, instead of stubbornly clinching to his post.

He is no politician. We need more of those.

lectrick• 11 years ago

Assumes the will of a single man would have been enough to rescue an entire economy based on what looks to outsiders like an ingrained culture of laziness

crdoconnor5• 11 years ago

So what should he have done? What's your brilliant plan?

allendoerfer• 11 years ago

To me, it seems he's a true hero of his nation, putting the needs of his people before the needs of the creditors.

If you are responsible for the finances of a whole state you have to find agreement with the other 18 elected leaders that try to represent their people as well, preferably before you are unable to pay for your countries loans and it collapses.

The Euro group was already moving in his direction but they have to justify their actions in front of their own people. I am all for some fresh wind but if you go into politics you have to be able to make compromises. You cannot just want something thinking that you are the only intelligent person in the room and step back if you do not get it, especially when the future of your country is at stake.

vruiz• 11 years ago

you have to find agreement with the other 18 elected leaders that try to represent their people as well

That right there might be the root of all EU problems.

crdoconnor5• 11 years ago

The Euro group was already moving in his direction

That's a huge load of bullshit. They never showed any intention of budging from their position.

Bootvis2• 11 years ago

He called the creditors 'terrorists' though. He didn't have to do that and I really can't blame the creditors for wanting someone else at the table.

MaysonL• 11 years ago

Actually, a more accurate translation would be "fear-mongers"

higherpurpose• 11 years ago

Our politicians on the other hand seem to do anything the EU tells them

What the US tells them too, probably:

https://blog.cyberwar.nl/2015/07/dutch-intelligence-bill-pro...

vidarh6• 11 years ago

Personally I think that he was expecting this. That he took the "bad cop" role on purpose, and that it's now time for the "good cop" to come in and appear more reasonable while pointing to the referendum with a "what can I do?" shrug while asking for more (e.g. after the IMF report, debt relief is now back on the table; EDIT: where it should have been all the time).

james1071• 11 years ago

Yes-I agree.

mike_hearn• 11 years ago

It's sad? The man called them terrorists. Why should they even give him the time of day, after an insult like that?

icebraining• 11 years ago

As it has been pointed out, the (Greek) word he used doesn't have the same connotations as "terrorist" in English.

https://www.reddit.com/r/europe/comments/3c3cj6/yanis_varouf...

return05• 11 years ago

Varoufakis did great damage to the country, as expected. This is typical 'martyr academic' behavior. My comment from 3 months ago: https://news.ycombinator.com/item?id=9364609

mslot• 11 years ago

Did he? How? He inherited a bankrupt country which can't do anything without debt-relief. He knew only two things worked in Greece’s favour: 1. 90% of the Greek debt is held by the eurogroup governments, they are in a position to make a deal 2. The stakes are higher for the other eurogroup countries than they are for Greece, he can say no to any deal that doesn’t give at least some breathing room. In that position, you should play hard, which is what he did. He is a rare case of a finance minister who did his job.

Most finance ministers in the eurogroup who decide on the fate of the second biggest monetary union are not economists, and don’t seem to listen to the advice of economists, most of whom are calling for an end to austerity. Since the current pro-austerity administration took office, the Netherlands has performed worse than its mostly ungoverned neighbour Belgium in almost every respect, including debt-to-GDP growth. Mind you that the Netherlands is one of the richest countries in the world with financial assets worth several times its debts, and those assets have much higher returns than what they pay in interest on their loans. Yet even in this most luxurious of positions, the Dutch finance minister who is also the eurogroup president, swears by austerity for his country and for others, and the Greeks must suffer through it.

crdoconnor5• 11 years ago

To me, it seems he's a true hero of his nation, putting the needs of his people before the needs of the creditors.

Guess why they hate him so much.

fla• 11 years ago

Yes it's sad.

IMO, Europe representatives are just bureacrats who think asking for a minister's head is a productive move.

Europe's biggest problem right now is direct democracy.

What happend when when people wish to change the rules? It seems Europe had totally forgotten about that.

We have a similar-ish situation in Switzerland: we voted for a revision of the immigration system, and Europe doesn't know how to handle that because it's in contradiction with 'the rules'. The situation is completely stalled because cannot-change-the-rules so there can't be any middle ground.

HCF please.

dang• 11 years ago

https://news.ycombinator.com/item?id=9836991

robogimp• 11 years ago

I must go now...my planet needs me...

lesingerouge• 11 years ago

I have a bit of a science fiction scenario. Bear with me for a little bit. Let's suppose for a bit this approximate series of events was the actual goal of Mr. Varoufakis and company.

Why would they want this and who would want to risk the fate of an entire country and their own reputation on a "gamble"?

Because they started the negotiation game with a huge disadvantage and there was no way that they could bring something new to the table. So Tsipras and Varoufakis chose to "play the dumb communist" scenario that everyone was painting, stretch the canvas a bit and get new offers on the table and start with a different negotiating position.

This hypothesis, which I will check the following days, proposes that the Tsipras government and Varoufakis knew and understood very well the nature of the political and economical forces that pushed on them from outside of Greece. Knowing those forces and playing on the predictions laid out by the other side (Germany was already unhappy after Syriza won, expecting to have a difficult time negotiating with them) they followed to the line the "predicted" course. Difficult negotiations, huge differences in views, big political declarations and discourse, etc. The goal in the end was simple enough: get a cleaner slate.

Both the turbulent negotiations, with Varoufakis playing the evil marxist scapegoat, and the referendum, after a week of bank closures, were used as a ruse to lead the European leaders through to a "clean slate" phase. It was a very risky move, but I believe that the various contradictory signals that Tsipras sent just before the referendum confirm that it was a game. Like poker player that accidentally reveals his weakness just before he pulls a full house. The resignation of Varoufakis today is the next piece in their scenario: just take out the nasty opinionated communist and all the european parties will clearly feel more relaxed. I believe that this move was planned from the beginning and Varoufakis was used to "stir up" the pot a bit, while apparently being discarded as "peace offering" after a while.

So what was gained by this daring gamble? First of all, the markets were calmed. The negotiations were so desperate from the start, given the position of the two parties that everybody was sure of the Greek default. Now, with the financial markets accepting the default event in itself, any new deals on the table will have to take this fact into consideration. It's not "looming" anymore, it is here and it is indisputable. Second, the situation now allows for a much needed debt haircut. Refinancing is all fine and dandy, but everybody agreed that the debt could not be sustainably repaid. So now everybody is suddenly ok with the debt reducing. Third, the Tsipras government kept its word with its electors. They "fought" valiantly for the good of the people. Actually with the cards they got dealt by the previous government, they played quite a good game until now. And their general appeal has definitely risen from 36.3% (plus affiliated parties) to a 61% (as shown by the referendum). Fourth, the european hard-liners were blind-sided and the rules for the negotiation were changed. The deal before this referendum was "behave or we will strangle you". Now, it's quite a useless threat given the actual default. So Tsipras most certainly will be able to have better terms.

Sorry for the long post, had a bit of thoughts to get out. :D

return05• 11 years ago

By that logic, Varouf. was a german spy that was purposely put there to stir the waters and thus shield the markets from any kind of greek collapse/default/grexit whatever. And it worked: arguably the markets barely shrug about greece anymore. What did greece win?

caoilte2• 11 years ago

They haven't been "playing the dumb communist" they've been smeared with it by their own media, by strategic "leaks" from EuroGroup meetings by "analysts" in International Finance and by the International Media which largely swallowed the smears time after time.

Not that they don't make mistakes. The problem is that they are not held to the same standards as members of the EuroGroup and Parliament. It ought to be fine for Varoufakis to talk about issuing IOUs, for the same reason that it is fine for the head of the European Parliament to say that Greece should be expelled from the Euro if it voted no.

There is an asymmetry of power. The EU holds the purse strings and so Greece cannot complain, whatever they do. Greece needs a bailout and so any mistake that its leaders make will be used as a bargaining chip against them. You see the same relationship in negotiations between Iran and the P5+1, between Hamas and the Quartet and between every black man on the street in America and any policeman that they meet.

anonbanker• 11 years ago

This is the same Yanis Varoufakis that left Valve Software so he could take on this role. Hopefully, gaben will allow him to return so he can work on something meaningful again.

Yanis Varoufakis resigns despite referendum no vote

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