Talking to My Daughter About the Economy: A Brief History of Capitalism

The beauty of the writing drawing parallels, analogies and metaphors from literary sources (Marlowe, Goethe, Jean-Jacques Rousseau, and the Greek tragedian Sophocles), the clarity of the exposition of economic terms and concepts and the criticism of our market society (capitalism) and its attendant enormous wealth inequality, distortion of our values and undermining the sustainability of our planet provide the character of the concise book. Agricultural production created for the first time the basic element of a true economy that is surplus. The production of agricultural surplus gave birth to writing, debt, money, bureaucracy, armies, clergy and technology. Without debt there is no easy way to manage agricultural surplus. As debt appeared, money flourished. But for money to have value, the state had to make it trustworthy. When we talk about the economy, this is what we are talking about: the complex relations that emerge in a society with surplus. Like any ecosystem, a modern economy cannot survive without recycling. At the heart of recycling is the bank. The banks provide large loans. In the aftermath of the industrial revolution, the economies of the market societies grew enormously and the debt needed to fuel them rose massively as a result. In good times, the economy generates wealth and profits particularly to bankers, entrepreneurs and the financial elite. But the very same process that generates profit and wealth generates crashes and crises including run on the banks. Who can put an end to this dizzying down spiral? Since the nineteenth century when market societies experienced their first slump, the state has been forced to intervene. The state intervenes through a central bank which is something like a state-owned back whose customers are all the other banks.The central bank acts as lender of last resort to normal banks. Where does the central banks finds all this mountain of money? The amazing answer is that it creates it literally out of thin air. We have just mentioned that in our industrialized market societies, boom and bust cycles follow each other with certain inevitability. What I would like to add is that due to our human nature and collective expectations, we accentuate both cycles. When as a group we are optimistic, this optimism is self-fulfilling and self-perpetuating. And when we are pessimistic, this pessimism is similarly self-fulfilling and self-perpetuating. In our industrial societies, humans are continuously being replaced by machines that is there is a diminution, a squeezing out, of humanity from the production process; at the same time we observe an enormous and increasing wealth inequality while through our man-made industrial activities we pollute the environment posing a serious threat to the sustainability of our life giving planet. In this concluding paragraph, we shall examine how rulers and a social minority elites managed to maintain their power through history. By cultivating an ideology which caused the majority to believe deep in their hearts that only their rulers had e right to rule. Organized religion had provided such narratives for centuries. With the emergence of market societies, this ideology, this new secular religion, is economics.

My eldest son (a 30 year old chartered engineer), discovered this book and read it because he wanted to have an understanding of economics. This prompted me to read it, although I did study economics at school sometime last century! This book is an engrossing read, opening my eyes as to why particular economic norms have come about and the far reaching effect they have on life. The author doesn’t shy away from saying it how he sees it, rather than pandering to saying what is perhaps expected of an economist. The book is written in a clear, engaging, conversational style, but never condescendingly so. There are many historical references that illustrate points being made and so makes for an interesting read. Ideas and arguments are carefully set out so that the reader understands what is being said and is left to pause and reflect, before making up his or her mind on the point in hand. It is an eye opening and thought provoking book - recommended.

Having flunked Economics spectacularly at school, I have always avoided the subject in my adult life. After watching a youtube interview during which this author explained some very complex issues around govt finance, world bank loans, and the plight of his beloved nation (Greece), I realised that I understood every word he said! I was not stupid! I just needed an Economics teacher - this guy is a genius! - who knew how to explain the subject to a disinterested and uninformed audience! Of which I had been one: No longer! The former Greek minister for finance, Yanis Varoufakis - doting father and gifted teacher of Economics - tried to explain, in simple terms, his work to his daughter, who lives in Australia, far from the Greece in which she grew up and knew well as a younger child. He uses stories of personalities she knows well, characters from well-known classical literature and even a prison-of-war camp to explain the quite compex ideas he lays out in plain English for the soon-to-be very informed reader. It feels like one is imvited into an avuncular relationship with the author the entire time, but the sense that he is TALKING TO HIS DAUGHTER is tangible from the beginning to the end. Loved the book, and I now feel qualified to be an adult member of the human race, in 2023! I am confident that, should I decide to pick up the financial times, or a copy of The Economist I would have more than a vague notion of what is written therein. I never felt talked down to, even though the author must have had to break things down quite a bit to make his message understood. Perhaps that is because it is written, primarily for, and to, his daughter. I recommend everyone over 21, read the book, in order to better participate in post-school life! Since many leave school, not really knowing how life works!!! Now, I wish someone would write a book like this for (or about) The Law!

Great book! Highly recommended

This book purports to unravel the mystifying quasi-science that is Economics by way of the author explaining it to his young daughter. This approach is adopted, I'm sure, in an attempt to attract a non-professional reading public, as well as anyone actually studying Economics. However, when I'd finished I came away with the feeling that I'd read a lot that was truly valuable, not only to me, but to anyone wanting an insight into how the economy actually works. However, I also felt that some of the content became significantly abstruse and technical and, therefore, not entirely suited to the suggested positioning of the work as a tutorial to a young girl and, consequently, in places quite hard work for a lay audience.. Having said that, I enjoyed the work and the stance that Yanis adopts. The truisms that he reveals are genuinely insightful and should be made apparent to as wide an audience as possible in my view. I wish him well in that endeavour. Again, as I've said with respect to another book I've reviewed on Amazon, I've decided to give 3 stars here, but I might well have given 4. Once again, I really wanted to give 3.5.

A good general introduction to economics and how the international economy works. Not a text book style but as the title indicates, more of a conversational and discursive approach, from quite a left and critical perspective. I read it after enjoying 'Adults in the Room' and it reflects the same approach to economics. I would recommend it to anyone wanting an overview or an introduction to economics. I found it fairly easy to read with useful examples and comparisons which made the concepts being explained much clearer than the usual text books. My only reservation is I think a reader would need to read more widely to get more mainstream views - although these are readily available in the papers.

I have Yanis Varoufakis’ new book, Talking to My Daughter About the Economy, to thank for keeping me up all night reading page and page, to the early hours of the morning, unable to put this book down. Yanis Varoufakis is that rarest of writers who can make the subject of economics interesting. To say this book is a page-turner is an understatement, not because it is a thrilling read with action, but because it is just a beautifully written piece of literature. It is a contemplative work. In this book he attempts to answer the question, “How did we get into this mess?” In answering his question he is thinking through the answer on paper and the result is this book. His tone is pensive, his voice is muted, and his ideas are presented carefully and methodically. That question has been asked before, so his subtitle is “A Brief History of Capitalism,” which is functionally the same. He could have simply answered his question with, “The System,” but that would have been too easy and not enough. So what Varoufakis does is choose significant events in human development, compare those events with responses from other societies, all of which lead to the present economic system. He knows the answer to his question in advance of course — he is after all a leading economic theoretician — so he uses a literary device of answering that question in the first person to his fourteen-year old daughter. Brilliant! His real daughter may not be the intended audience of Varoufakis’ book and may or may not be genuinely interested in Varoufakis’ explanation of how we got here, but we are, because we are Varoufakis’ fourteen-year old daughter. I like to think of this book as “Marx Light” or “Marx 101.” The fact that the cover of this book is in a bright red cover is a tip-off right there. Not that there is anything disparaging about this remark. Better than any other economist, before or since, Marx understood the strengths and weaknesses of Capitalism and his works are read by the movers and shakers in Wall Street (along with Milton Friedman). Varoufakis wisely avoids names and labels in this work. The result is a thorough work which one would be hard-pressed to argue. You could still disagree with his methods or conclusions, but Varoufakis is a good writer and you will still be amazed at literary quality of this work.

Excellent read - the author is extremely knowledgeable and able to convey global and geopolitical matters into everyday meaningful events. Highly recommended - I did, to my daughter.

It helps understand and explain how the economy and capitalism work. Insightful and non-technical. Great read.

Me ha encantado la claridad de la exposición. Como dice su autor, la economía es demasiado importante para dejarla en manos de los economistas. Varoufakis brillante, como siempre. Su conocimiento de la historia es asombroso y preciso. Genial

Great book on economics , so interesting and simplified to the point that could be digested and easy to understand the economics basics .. highly recommended

"There are no economic experts. The economy is the way in which social power is organized - it's a question about democracy. So if we are to accept that there is a group of experts and we have to defer to them, then, effectively, we accept oligarchy." Yanis Varoufakis, besides being an familiar economist, is a member of Hellenic Parliament and previously served briefly as finance minister of Greece in 2015 before he resigned his position due to conflicts of reconciling Greek economy and European Union's. I certainly believe that the habit of making things simple is not a matter of perception with mildly granted attitude. It's a matter of understanding and equally the ability to explicate for better perceptions. As per that, it is a rare gem of a book. Everyone must read this work. Everyone especially banker who either don't know what they're doing in the market society or perhaps, pretending not to know what they're doing, for contemporary survival. I loved the way author concluded the book by quoting T.S. Eliot, "We shall not cease from exploration And the end of all our exploring Will be to arrive where we started And know the place for the first time."

J’aime le style imagé et plein de charme de Varoufakis, qui explique simplement les rouages de notre monde mais qui ne manque pas de nous prodiguer des conseils pleins de bon sens et d’humanité. J’aime aussi son effort (acharné?) de garder une lueur d’espoir après tout ça. Il s’adresse à sa fille donc à un lecteur qu’il aime plus que tout. Donc ne pas hésiter à vous jeter sur ce livre et le dévorer.