He may no longer be antagonizing Djisselbloem and the Eurogroup of finance ministers with his inexplicable adherence to practical mathematics, but former Greek fin min Varoufakis remains firmly in the global media spotlight.
Case in point, over the weekend, the Sunday Times [15]unleashed the latest so-called scandal involving the man who allegedly almost returned Greece to the Drachma (and, jokingly, bitcoin) when it presented what it dubbed "Greek outrage" at his $60,000 speeches (considering that such Citadel traders get at least $250,000 per speech perhaps the outrage is that he wasn't charging more):
"He calls himself a Marxist libertarian but his lifestyle of endless photo-shoots, evenings in chic bars and weekend stays in luxurious island villas have long outraged Greek public opinion and the Syriza party he once served.
Now, Yanis Varoufakis, the former Greek finance minister, has stunned the country by reportedly charging up to $60,000-a-time for making speeches and receiving payments through an HSBC bank account in Oman."
The newspaper further claims that these findings "contradict claims by Varoufakis that he has received about €1,100 for more than 40 paid appearances at public speaking events he had attended since since his dismissal."
Today, Varoufakis decided to put an end to speculation that he may be doing what Hillary and Bill Clinton have been so good at, namely profiting from speeches made after his political departure (which in the Clintons' case was merely a tacit way of purchasing influence and future favors, i.e., bribing), and laid out all his public speeches and the associated fees since August 2015.
This is what he said [16]:
Since my resignation from the finance ministry, in protest at our government’s capitulation to the troika, I have been spending my time and energy to transfer the spirit of the Athens Spring to the heart of Europe – to promote the urgent need to shine the light of transparency on Europe’s decision making as a prerequisite to tackling Europe’s gargantuan democratic deficit.
In practice, this meant endless travel, and more than twenty appearances in different European cities over the space of a couple of months. As expected, the same troika-friendly media that attempted to vilify the Athens Spring during our tug-of-war with the troika also invested effort in vilifying my latest endeavours. After all, nothing upsets the powers-that-be in Brussels, Frankfurt, etc. more than the exposure of their deep contempt for democratic principles and practice.
Beginning with some Greek media outlets which have an impecable record of defamation (e.g. a grubby newspaper that ‘reported’, during my ministry, that I was conspiring with a Singaporean company to make Bitcoin Greece’s currency), a fresh campaign of vilification has begun the purpose of which is to portray my recent efforts, and travels, as part of a self-enrichment drive.
Transparency is one of the pillars of the European democracy network that I, and many others, are working towards these days, and which my travels and talks are intended to promote. For this reason, I owe a debt of gratitude to the troika-led media in the sense that, through their vilification campaign, have given me a wonderful opportunity to demonstrate in practice the principle of transparency that we want to bring to European politics.
Our campaign for Transparency Everywhere! can thus begin now, in this post. Below the reader will find, in response to the reports regarding the fees, format and travel costs of my recent and future speeches an account of where I have been, whom have I addressed, complete with fees and travel costs.
List A refers to political speeches I gave (or plan to give) since my resignation from the Greek Ministry of Finance. My fee for delivering the bulk of these speeches was the radical number ‘zero’. In three cases I received a small sum (mainly because the organisers insisted I should).
List B comprises two speeches/appearances which I delivered commercially to maintain my economic independent from vested interests and to my other activities. (Note that this ratio of about 12 to 1, unpaid to paid, appearances was also my practice as an academic prior to 2014, when I decided to throw my hat in the ring of politics).
His conclusion:
I conclude with a message to the troika-loyal media, in Greece and at large: Your continued efforts to vilify me constitute a great gift for which I am thankful to you. They confirm the extent to which you are still threatened by the Athens Spring and that your loathing of the hope it spread around the world is undying. At the same time, your grimy efforts contribute to us, your opponents, excellent ideas on how to promote the task of Transparency Everywhere!
To this we can just add that we would be delighted if the US population showed the same indignation and revulsion to the Clintons' speeches, which generated tens if not hundreds of millions in bribes proceeds as the Greeks did in this particular case.
The full list of speeches given by Yanis:
LIST A – Political Speeches, given and planned since August 2015
23 Aug. 2015 – Open air political speech at a rally in Frangy (France). Topic: “What does the Athens Spring mean for France and for Europe” – along with former French Economy Minister Arnaud Montebourg. http://yanisvaroufakis.eu/2015/08/25/10081/ [17]
Fee: 0 Travel expenses: Yes (Economy)
4 Sept. 2015 – Day long debates and meetings concerning the prospects of the European and Greek economies, organized by OMFIF, London
Fee: 0 Travel expenses: Yes (Economy)
5 Sept. 2015 – Speech in the House of Ambrosseti, Lake Como, along with French Economy Minister Emmanuel Macron, invited by former Italian Prime Minister Mario Monti http://yanisvaroufakis.eu/2015/09/07/on-the-state-of-the-european-union-address-at-the-41st-forum-of-the-european-house-ambrosetti/ [18]
Fee: 0 Travel expenses: Yes (Economy)
12 Sept. 2015 – Address at the “Festival of Humanity” (Festival de l’humanité), in Paris. Topic: “The Solution Must Be European” http://yanisvaroufakis.eu/2015/09/10/fassina-lafontaine-melenchon-varoufakis-this-saturday-in-paris/ [19]
Fee: 0 Travel expenses: Yes (Economy)
13 Sept. 2015 – Back-to-back speeches with Britain’s Shadow Chancellor John MacDonnell, Brighton UK. Topic: “Austerity was never an option” http://yanisvaroufakis.eu/2015/09/16/back-to-bak-speeches-by-y-varoufakis-j-mcdonald-audio/ [20]
Fee: 0 Travel expenses: Yes (Economy)
14 Sept. 2015 (morning) – Address of striking staff at London’s National Gallery http://yanisvaroufakis.eu/2015/09/19/addressing-the-striking-staff-of-londons-national-gallery-14th-sep-2015/ [21]
Fee: 0 Travel expenses: No
14 Sept. 2015 (evening) – Public address at the Emmanuel Centre, in London, UK. Topic: “Fighting for Our Future” (with Labour Party parliamentarian and Shadow Cabinet Minister Diane Abbot) https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=W_Gd3bluAHo [22]
Fee: 0 Travel expenses: No
24 Sept. 2015 – Panelist on top BBC tv political debate’s program “Question Time” (Cambridge, UK) http://yanisvaroufakis.eu/2015/09/24/tonight-on-bbc-ones-question-time/ [23]
Fee: 0 Travel expenses: Yes (Economy)
26 Sept. 2015 – Public debate with Daniel Cohn Bedit at the Festival of Le Monde, Paris
Fee: 0 Travel expenses: Yes (Economy)
1 Oct. 2015 – Closing Speech at the 6th Moscow Biennale. Topic: “Artists Should Be Feared by the Powerful”, Moscow, Russia http://yanisvaroufakis.eu/2015/10/04/artists-should-be-feared-by-the-powerful-keynote-closing-the-6th-moscow-biennale-1st-october-2015/ [24]
Fee: €1000, Travel expenses: Yes (Economy)
6 Oct. 2015 – Public address at the Volksbühne Theater, Berlin, Germany. Topic: An Alternative Plan for Europe”
Fee: €500 Travel expenses: Yes (Economy)
15 Oct. 2015 – Talk at the Bon Centre, Municipality of Barcelona, invited by Mayor Ada Colau
Fee: €1700 Travel expenses: Yes (Economy)
17 Oct. 2015 – Inaugural Lecture of the Centre for Social Studies, University of Coimbra (Portugal)
Fee: 0 Travel expenses: Yes (Economy)
23 Oct. 2015 Open public address at the Central Westminster Hall, London, UK – organized by THE GUARDIAN newspaper
Fee: 0 Travel expenses: Yes (Economy)
24 Oct. 2015 Address at the Oxford Union, the University of Oxford, Oxford Union
Fee: 0 Travel expenses: No
25 Oct. 2015 – Public debate with Lord Howard, How To Academy, London
Fee: 0 Travel expenses: No
26 Oct. 2015 Address at an inter-collegiate meeting hosted by the Master of Trinity College, Cambridge
Fee: 0 Travel expenses: No
27 Oct. 2015 Public debate in Munich with German economist Professor Hans Werner Sinn
Fee: 0 Travel expenses: Yes (Economy)
3 Nov. 2015 Keynote speaker at a Summit with international banking sector representatives organised by Financial Times and hosted by the FT’s economics editor Mr Martin Wolf
Fee: 0 Travel expenses: Yes (Economy)
4 Nov. 2015 Public Lecture, University of Vienna University (co-organisation with Kreisky Forum)
Fee: 0 Travel expenses: Yes (Economy)
5 Nov. 2015 Opening event at the Kilkenomics Festival, Ireland
Fee: 0 Travel expenses: Yes (Economy)
6 Nov. 2015 Public Lecture University of Bocconi, Milano, Italy
Fee: 0 Travel expenses: No
16 Nov. 2015 Public Debate on the Future of Europe, with Professor Slavoj Zizek, Royal Festival Hall, London, UK
Fee: 0 Travel expenses: Yes (Economy)
LIST B – Commercial Speeches/Apperances, given and planned since August 2015
27 Sep. 2015 – Participation in tv program Che Tempo Che Fa, RAI 3,
Fee: €24,000 after Italian tax and social security contributions Travel expenses: Yes (First Class)
21 Oct 2015 – Presentation in the context of the Abraaj annual conference in Singapore
Fee: €28,800 after Greek tax
Travel expenses: Yes (Business Class)
