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The Econoclasts
Europe’s identity crisis: Empty values & defence delusion
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This week, Yanis Varoufakis and Wolfgang Munchau take aim at Europe's core illusions. Are Europe's 'values' anything more than a slogan when its leaders fail to defend a French ICC judge sanctioned by the Trump administration? And why is Europe fixated on rapidly increasing defence spending to 3.5% of GDP - is this target a genuine strategy to counter Russia and achieve independence, or is it a doomed exercise that will only funnel money inefficiently and increase Europe's reliance on American arms suppliers?
The Econoclasts is the podcast from UnHerd in which Yanis Varoufakis and Wolfgang Munchau each week pick pillars of the economic orthodoxy – so-called ‘settled facts’ – and shatter them. Why? Because, while they don’t always agree politically, they’re united in one conviction: the consensus is rotten and the establishment’s model is failing.
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How Iran exposed the West’s military weakness
33:44|In this episode of The Econoclasts, Yanis Varoufakis and Wolfgang Munchau strip away the orthodoxies surrounding the unfolding conflict with Iran to reveal a strategy-less West paralysed by its own deindustrialisation, dangerously dependent on China, and projecting power externally to mask a profound systemic rot at home.- 36:43|In this episode of The Econoclasts, Yanis Varoufakis and Wolfgang Munchau target the orthodoxy of NATO’s post-1991 expansion as well as dismantling the prevailing narrative surrounding the war in Ukraine, including the logistical delusion of a Western victory and the dereliction of duty by European leadership that risks a global escalation.
Trump’s Iran strikes and the new forever war
26:46|🔗 Click the following link to get tickets to 'The Econoclasts LIVE: Is Russia really a threat to Europe?' in London on March 23rd: https://unherd.com/econoclastsliveIn this episode of The Econoclasts, Yanis Varoufakis and Wolfgang Munchau dissect the geopolitical fallout of the U.S. bombing campaign against Iran, arguing that the strikes signal a definitive shift toward a "permanent war doctrine" and expose how Donald Trump has abandoned his non-interventionist promises to embrace a neocon agenda of regional destabilisation. From the erosion of European sovereignty to the strategic victories handed to China and Russia, Yanis and Wolfgang challenge the "weapons of mass destruction" pretexts of the past and analyse the high economic and human cost of a conflict that seems designed to have no end.
Why Trump will win the tariff war
33:52|🔗Go to unherd.com/econoclastslive to get your tickets to Yanis & Wolfgang's upcoming event!In this episode of The Econoclasts, Yanis Varoufakis and Wolfgang Munchau pull back the curtain to reveal the shifting tectonic plates of the global economy, arguing that the world’s fixation on Donald Trump’s tariffs and Supreme Court rulings is a dangerous distraction from a much more profound transformation – namely a new form of power that allows Big Tech to hold the West to ransom, and an AI revolution that will permanently dismantle the foundations of human agency, private property, and the free market.
Marco Rubio’s new world order & Starmer’s plan to rejoin Europe
37:27|In this episode of The Econoclasts, Yanis Varoufakis and Wolfgang Munchau dissect the false orthodoxies surrounding the current state of the transatlantic relationship and the UK’s post-Brexit strategy. Pointing to Marco Rubio’s Munich speech as a signal that America has pivoted its priorities away from its security guarantee with Europe, and highlighting Keir Starmer’s attempt to seek a backdoor return to the EU through regulatory alignment, they paint a stark picture of a West in transition, where old alliances are crumbling and delusional European leaders remain unable to confront the fiscal and military realities of a changing world order.
The Starmer-Mandelson-Epstein scandal & Musk’s merger
36:54|In this episode of The Econoclasts, Yanis Varoufakis and Wolfgang Munchau confront the false orthodoxies of finance and power, beginning with a deep dive into the “rigged” valuation of the SpaceX-xAI merger and toxicity of stock buybacks, before clashing over Keir Starmer’s appointment of Peter Mandelson as US Ambassador, Mandelson's links to Jeffrey Epstein, and the resignation of Morgan McSweeney as proof of a clownish and ultimately doomed political strategy.
Why gold and silver crashed & Trump’s Fed Chair pick
33:32|Following a historic price crash for gold and silver after President Trump picked Kevin Warsh to lead the Federal Reserve, Yanis Varoufakis and Wolfgang Munchau dismantle the orthodoxies surrounding the slump and connect the dots between Warsh’s Mar-a-Lago family ties, the toxic legacy of Quantitative Easing, and the inevitable shift toward fiscal dominance, exposing why the crash is a symptom of a dying central banking era and a warning of the dollar debasement yet to come.
“This isn’t over”: Trump, Greenland & the Davos delusion
38:55|In this week’s Econoclasts, Yanis Varoufakis and Wolfgang Munchau engage in a deconstruction of multiple modern economic and geopolitical myths, from Mark Carney’s Davos speech to the shifting power dynamics between Europe and the United States. Was Carney’s much-lauded call for a new multilateral alliance actually a muddled and hypocritical attempt to revive a global order that has already ruptured? And was Europe’s “victory” over Trump with regard to Greenland actually delusional cheerleading, when the declining continent remains trapped by a deep dependency on American technology, the dollar, and security infrastructure?
Europe’s fatal Greenland mistake & China’s real power
38:46|In the week when President Donald Trump vowed to implement a wave of increasing tariffs on European allies until the United States is allowed to buy Greenland, Yanis Varoufakis and Wolfgang Munchau dissect the terminal decline of European sovereignty and the shifting pillars of the global economy. Is Europe unable to confront Trump due to its total reliance on American technology and defence? And while the U.S. and China embrace disruptive economic models to maintain their dominance, why does the EU choose to preserve a failing status quo rather than pursuing the radical political union necessary for survival?
