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Adults In The Room

My Battle With Europe’s Deep Establishment

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Adults In The Room

By: Yanis Varoufakis
Narrated by: Leighton Pugh
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Random House presents the unabridged, downloadable audiobook edition of Adults in the Room by Yanis Varoufakis.

*** 'One of the greatest political memoirs of all time' (Guardian) ***

What happens when you take on the establishment? In this blistering, personal account, world-famous economist Yanis Varoufakis blows the lid on Europe's hidden agenda and exposes what actually goes on in its corridors of power.

Varoufakis sparked one of the most spectacular and controversial battles in recent political history when, as finance minister of Greece, he attempted to re-negotiate his country’s relationship with the EU. Despite the mass support of the Greek people and the simple logic of his arguments, he succeeded only in provoking the fury of Europe’s political, financial and media elite. But the true story of what happened is almost entirely unknown – not least because so much of the EU’s real business takes place behind closed doors.

In this fearless account, Varoufakis reveals all: an extraordinary tale of brinkmanship, hypocrisy, collusion and betrayal that will shake the deep establishment to its foundations.

As is now clear, the same policies that required the tragic and brutal suppression of Greece’s democratic uprising have led directly to authoritarianism, populist revolt and instability throughout the Western world.

Adults In The Room is an urgent wake-up call to renew European democracy before it is too late.

 Europe International Politics & Government World Thought-Provoking Capitalism Imperialism Banking Socialism Stock Taxation
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Critic reviews

Varoufakis has written one of the greatest political memoirs of all time [and] one of the most accurate and detailed descriptions of modern power ever written
An important, terrifying must-read. In particular, it anatomises the way in which EU leaders operate with a brutal clarity … shocking and ultimately tragic … He gets to the heart of their failure more acutely than anyone … Varoufakis has the greatest political virtues of all – courage and honesty
A tremendously indiscreet account … drawing upon his own audio recordings and diaries of top-level meetings. It is deeply personal and very well written
The most jaw-dropping segments are the accounts of phone calls and closed-door meetings – often verbatim, courtesy of his secret recordings – between ministers and technocrats ... We see duplicity and cynicism ruling supreme .. A convincing critique ... Our own government should take note
This is a superbly written account of the struggle to alleviate the austerity imposed upon the Greek people by the eurozone. Greece, argues Varoufakis, has been put in a debtors’ prison and robbed of autonomy and dignity for the indefinite future. Critics would argue that he failed as finance minister in 2015 because he was insufficiently politic. More plausibly, he could never have succeeded, such were the vested interests arrayed against him. This outcome was — and is — a tragedy, because he was — and is — right. The bulk of Greek debt should indeed be cancelled outright. Read and weep (Martin Wolf, Financial Times Summer Reads)
Astonishing … not simply a political biography but a reflection on the nature and meaning of power in our times … This really is an important book … you should read it … This book could be a game changer if it shakes we the people from our compliant slumber as passengers within the sinking ship of contemporary high power
Riveting … an extraordinary account of low cunning at the heart of Greece’s 2015 financial bailout … Admirably, he eschews denunciations, finding the human in his adversaries, even in his darkest moments
A blistering account ... should be required reading for David Davis and the government’s Brexit negotiating team
A fascinating reveal on the hidden world of what he calls the "deep establishment"… Varoufakis is a master of clarity and, as Theresa May prepares to steer the good ship GB through the dangerous shoals of Brexit, this is an invaluable account of how the political establishment really works
One of my few heroes. As long as people like Varoufakis are around, there still is hope (Slavoj Žižek)
All stars
Most relevant
Forget about what you think you know about Grexit. Read the book and inform yourself first. How the European establishment deceived all of us. This is a very detailed book with precise descriptions of private meetings and political games. How the Greek spring turned into the biggest betrayal against the Greeks people and democratic values. How Troika got what they wanted at the expense of all European tax payers.

All Europeans should read this book

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Would you consider the audio edition of Adults in the Room to be better than the print version?

Totally obsorbed by this audiobook. Amazing but scary account of how distructive the Troica have been to Greece, Europe and democracy

Amazing recount

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This really goes into every detail of what Varoufakis went through trying to renegotiate the Greek debt with the institutions of the EU.

Anyone who has high hopes of the EU will come away from this book very depressed with how the Greeks were treated and in particular the terrible way Varoufakis himself was maligned and mistreated.

Over and over again Varoufakis hears positive words in private from politicians only to have them say the opposite in public. Over and over he tries to come to a reasonable and humaine settlement with the EU institutions over the Greek dept, yet every time his ideas are rejected while the press are briefed that it is the EU who are trying to find a settlement and Varoufakis who is being the obstruction.

The EU forced the Greek state into an unnecessary and counter-productive programme of ultra-austerity which made it even harder for Greece to repay the debt while at the same time forcing terrible hardships on all the Greek people - from the young to the pensioners. It is a very difficult read, but if you want to know the truth about how the EU works it is a necessary read.

So Depressing for the European Project

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Illuminating, even if it does jump around in time a lot. This sheds a huge amount of light on the inner workings of otherwise dark establishments.

The economics in it is relatively clearly presented but I would advise the reader to spend 10-15 minutes researching the concepts of government bonds, haircutting, and credit default swaps if they are not already familiar - though much can be gained from context a proper introduction enriches the book.

Excellent

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The book chronicals the obstruction to a feasible rescue package for the Greek financial crisis formulated by a respected economic professor who reluctantly entered politics. The deliberate undermining of a left-wing government democratically elected should serve as a warning to all people living within the EU. It warns of the unelected bureaucracy that runs the EU that must except responsibility for the rise of anti-EU parties of the left and right and the reason Britain voted to leave the EU. The unscrupulous technocrats that formed the troika of organisations that seek to hold fast to the reigns of power and undermine progressive policies is truly terrifying. Despite all this the author however remains a committed European and hopes to influence policy to return the EU to its founding principles of an organisation of nations dedicated to the good of all its people and not just a cash cow for institutions and highly paid bureaucrats.

Account of Economic Supremacy Over Democracy.

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