In the opening episode of Radical Thinking, a new series from the Guardian, Yanis Varoufakis — the former Greek finance minister — told host Aditya Chakrabortty that “there’s no such thing as democracy,” raising pointed questions about where authority rests in contemporary economies.
The episode pits two central forces against one another: the will of electorates and the influence of markets. Varoufakis, speaking to Chakrabortty, described his own experience of clashing with those who sought to block the reforms he proposed during the eurozone crisis, portraying those confrontations as illustrative of a wider tension between democratic mandates and financial power.
The conversation revisits the difficult choices and confrontations that surrounded Varoufakis’s time in office, focusing on the broader theme of who ultimately decides policy in times of economic stress. The interview explores how constraints on governments — whether from lenders, markets or other actors — can shape what is politically possible, and whether that dynamic undermines the concept of democracy itself.
Radical Thinking is presented as a platform for extended discussion of such questions. The episode features Chakrabortty, the Guardian’s senior economics commentator, in conversation with Varoufakis, and is available to watch through the Guardian’s channels. The exchange is likely to fuel debate about the balance of power between citizens, elected officials and market forces in Europe and beyond.