Synopsis:
Yanis Varoufakis is a Greek economist and former Greek finance minister. In his book Talking to my daughter about the economy, Varoufakis discusses the history of capitalism. The Book is a series of letters in which he replies to his daughter's question of ''Dad why is there so much inequality in the world'?
'' You can take the money out of politics but you cannot take the politics out of money''
"If the economy is the engine of society and debt is its fuel, then labour is the spark, the life-breathing force that animates that engine, while money is the lubricant without which that engine would seize up"
Analysis:
Talking to my daughter about the economy is a groundbreaking book in the sphere of political sciences. The structure is nothing like I have seen before, although Yanis's audience is his youngest daughter the language was not patronising or too simple but rather informative. The book was packed with Analogies to illustrate things such as a market economy, inflation, and Exchange rates.
The book follows a history of capitalism from the serfs to the Nazis and then with the threat of technology and robots. A section I found most informative was in regards to the currency at the concentration camps back in the 1940s. Varoufakis states how there does not need to be money to have a currency as cigarettes were used as exchange value in concentration camps. This was significant at displaying to me the basics behind the complex theories of economics and allowed me to see how vital markets are in the formations of societies.
An important question which Varoufaki draws attention to is how can we protect the Environment, maintain our future as the human race on planet earth in a market society? The conclusion here is that this objective will depend on the development of authentic democracy. I found this a significant theme of his book how he draws attention to the symbiotic relationship between economic theory and politics. As he says in the quote above, politics and economics are intertwined. Although you may disagree with his view that true democracy can solve the climate issue and inequality in the world it's hard to disagree on the fundamentality of the relationship between economics and politics.
Another thing that Yanis did well was using popular stories as an analogy for economic ideology. The Matrix is probably the most notable example of this, as Yanis uses anaphora to convey this significance. He talks about how Agent Smith a character in the series said 'humans are a virus.' Yanis talks about this and states how we are ruining the environment. He talks about how things such as fish in rivers don't belong to anyone thus meaning they cannot offer an exchange value. He believes that if they had an exchange value there would be people having to regulate and thus look after the biodiversity of the river etc. Here Yanis conveys the significance of markets in protecting the planet.
Talking to my daughter about the economy covers multiple topics such as Bitcoin, Surplus, Market economies, and more. However, the ideology of Yanis is subtly woven in throughout the text thus making it significant to discuss. While his diagnoses borrow heavily from Marxism, in his conclusion he's not advocating for any communist revolution. He's more pointing out ways in which politics and economics can change for the better. He believes that more/better democratic engagement of people in the companies they work for, and ways to halt and reverse the concentration of wealth and power will lead to a better functioning society. Ultimately for Yanis VarouFakis democracy is what will lead to economic eudaemonia, as it's the only way the people can manage economic freedom. Although this conclusion is subject to opinion, his novel is a must-read. If you are struggling to understand the relationship between economics and politics like myself or want to further learn more about what makes the world go round - this is the book for you. What is so intrinsic about this book is that whether you are in your early teens or your late 90's you will learn something notable about the mechanics of the world around you.
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