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The Econoclasts
These Times - Trump versus Zelensky and the Wars for Ukraine’s Resources
Season 1, Ep. 127
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This week, Tom and Helen discuss the growing focus on the US-Ukraine minerals deal and its potential impact on intelligence sharing and arms supplies. They also explore whether the war in Ukraine has evolved into a battle over resources amid rising global geopolitical tensions.
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Trump’s Russian diesel deal & France’s fatal debt collapse
40:16|In this episode of The Econoclasts, Yanis Varoufakis and Wolfgang Munchau dissect Trump’s Russian diesel deal to expose the collapse of Western unity, while debunking the myth of French fiscal incompetence to reveal why France’s €3.6 trillion debt crisis is a structurally inevitable flaw of the euro.
France’s fiscal crisis & Europe's dangerous war fever
47:53|In this episode of The Econoclasts, Yanis Varoufakis and Wolfgang Munchau dissect the gathering financial and political storm in France, expose the self-defeating mechanics of European austerity, and reveal the dangerous escalation of 'war fever' across the continent, where hybrid-war narratives and NATO-Russia tensions threaten to drag an economically fragile, unprepared Europe into a devastating pre-1914 style conflict.
Europe's pre-war madness & the reindustrialisation myth
39:19|In this episode of The Econoclasts, Yanis Varoufakis and Wolfgang Munchau dissect the escalating geopolitical tensions between Western powers, Russia, and China, expose the dangerous anti-diplomacy bias within mainstream media and centrist political establishments that pushes Europe toward a pre-war posture, and debunk the political myth that military Keynesianism and factory-focused reindustrialisation can restore high-paying blue-collar jobs in an automated age.
Germany’s political meltdown & how the Left betrayed Europe
43:02|In this episode of The Econoclasts, Yanis Varoufakis and Wolfgang Munchau dissect the systemic breakdown of German centrist politics, reveal the uncomfortable truth about Europe’s total lack of defence sovereignty under US hegemony, and debunk the conventional political narrative by exposing how the centre-Left bears primary responsibility for the continent’s long-term deindustrialisation and geopolitical decline.
The AI extinction myth & Europe’s tech collapse
45:21|In this AI focussed episode of The Econoclasts, Yanis Varoufakis and Wolfgang Munchau expose the recent apocalyptic warnings from tech bosses as tricks for regulatory capture, reveal how weaponised AI and China’s robotic lead threaten stability, and dissect Europe’s failure to retain sovereignty in an era of cloud capital.
Germany's AfD surge & the death of the European project
45:15|In this episode of The Econoclasts, Yanis Varoufakis and Wolfgang Munchau dissect the political fallout from the AfD’s electoral breakthrough in Germany, debunk the establishment myth of how Hitler came to power in order to draw alarming parallels to what is happening with the AfD today, and reveal why the European Union’s current structure is inherently incapable of preventing systemic decay and the rise of ethnonationalism.
Iceland's EU rejection & the North Atlantic debt trap
42:24|Get your tickets for The Econoclasts Live: The world after capitalism, here: http://unherd.com/econoclastsliveIn this episode of The Econoclasts, Yanis Varoufakis and Wolfgang Munchau dissect the fallout of Iceland’s historic referendum vote to reject European Union accession talks, reveal the widening cracks in the transatlantic financial consensus, and debate whether a European capital markets union can revive investment or simply feed a stagnant ‘rent trap.’
America’s debt spiral & China’s big AI bet
31:13|In this episode of The Econoclasts, Yanis Varoufakis and Wolfgang Munchau debunk the mainstream economic orthodoxy that reserve currency status grants America immunity from default, exposing how the US is heading towards an uncontrollable sovereign debt spiral, while exploring how China is pursuing an alternative path to escape economic stagnation through state-directed open-source automation.
The decline of the US empire - with Richard D. Wolff
37:55|In this episode of The Econoclasts, Yanis Varoufakis and guest Richard D. Wolff analyse the decline of US imperial hegemony, tracing how eroding global power, systemic economic instability, and the rollback of social democratic reforms have fuelled widespread political alienation, while offering a critical critique of mainstream economic theory and exploring the potential for a renewed socialist movement in America.