The Econoclasts
by UnHerd
The Econoclasts is a new podcast from UnHerd hosted by economist Yanis Varoufakis and journalist Wolfgang Munchau. While they don't always agree politically, they are united in one conviction: the consensus is rotten. Mainstream economics has consistently failed to predict the events that shape our world, yet this broken orthodoxy still dominates policy and media. Each week, they choose two pillars of the established orthodoxy — the "settled facts" — and shatter them, cutting through the spin to connect the dots between money, geopolitics, and the real forces shaping our future. Don't forget to rate, like and subscribe wherever you get your podcasts.
Episodes
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Brazil's class war victory & AI's silent jobs crisis
In this episode of The Econoclasts, Yanis Varoufakis and Wolfgang Munchau dissect the political fallouts in Brazil and Serbia to debunk the prevailing narrative that the rise of the Right is an inevitable force that can only be mitigated by centrist technocracy, while revealing the looming threat...
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The fall of Macron & Europe’s cowardly Ukraine strategy
In this episode of The Econoclasts, Yanis Varoufakis and Wolfgang Munchau dissect the catastrophic collapse of Emmanuel Macron’s ‘revolutionary centrist’ experiment in France, exposing how a decade of technocratic austerity and underinvestment has fuelled widespread social unrest and pushed the...
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Trump’s Russian diesel deal & France’s fatal debt collapse
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...
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France’s fiscal crisis & Europe's dangerous war fever
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...
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Europe's pre-war madness & the reindustrialisation myth
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...
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Germany’s political meltdown & how the Left betrayed Europe
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...
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The AI extinction myth & Europe’s tech collapse
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…
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Germany's AfD surge & the death of the European project
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…
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Iceland's EU rejection & the North Atlantic debt trap
Get your tickets for The Econoclasts Live: The world after capitalism, here: http://unherd.com/econoclastslive In 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...
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America’s debt spiral & China’s big AI bet
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…
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The decline of the US empire - with Richard D. Wolff
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…
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The wealth tax myth & Britain’s dangerous Rejoin trap
In this episode of The Econoclasts, Yanis Varoufakis and Wolfgang Munchau debunk dominant economic orthodoxies surrounding wealth taxes as a quick-fix silver bullet for inequality, expose how central bank policies and globalisation are stripping nation-states of their democratic sovereignty, and...
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The greatest fraud in human history – with Ron Paul
In this episode of The Econoclasts, Yanis Varoufakis and guest Representative Ron Paul join forces across the traditional Left-Right political spectrum to debunk the conventional economic orthodoxy of central banking, expose the covert tax of inflationary money printing, reveal how post-2008...
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China’s hidden crisis & the West's dangerous wealth bubble
In this episode of The Econoclasts, Yanis Varoufakis and Wolfgang Munchau reveal the hidden macroeconomic realities behind China’s ongoing growth recession and local debt crisis, and expose how decades of central bank bailouts and Quantitative Easing have fuelled an inflated wealth bubble that...
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The UK’s investment trap & the lie behind Western wealth
In this episode of The Econoclasts, Yanis Varoufakis and Wolfgang Munchau dissect the political delusions stalling Western growth, debunking the idea that state investment alone can revive the UK, exposing Europe’s dangerous tech gap behind America and China, and revealing how flawed economic…
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Europe’s populist panic & China’s real free market
In this episode of The Econoclasts, Yanis Varoufakis and Wolfgang Munchau dissect the establishment’s self-defeating 'lawfare' strategy against rising right-wing populists like Marine Le Pen, and Nigel Farage, while debunking the myth that capitalism is synonymous with free markets by contrasting...
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The tragedy of America 250 & the truth about Ukraine
In this episode of The Econoclasts, Yanis Varoufakis and Wolfgang Munchau analyse the structural decay of American hegemony at its 250-year milestone, while exposing the corporate and political motivations behind the media's distorted Ukraine war narrative used to justify a domestic defence heist...
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The great Brexit myth & Germany’s industrial collapse
In this episode of The Econoclasts, Yanis Varoufakis and Wolfgang Munchau debunk the popular orthodoxy surrounding Brexit, exposing the phoney statistics used to fabricate a narrative of British macroeconomic self-harm, while dissecting the existential reality of Germany's inevitable structural...
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The fall of Starmer & Europe's great energy swindle
In this episode of The Econoclasts, Yanis Varoufakis and Wolfgang Munchau dissect the fallout of Keir Starmer’s resignation to expose a broader Western leadership crisis, before debunking the myth of the free market to reveal the hidden corporate swindle rigging European electricity prices - a...
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NATO’s narrative collapse & Anthropic’s AI shutdown
In this episode of The Econoclasts, Yanis Varoufakis and Wolfgang Munchau expose the dangerous flaws of a newly hyped Trump-Iran pre-deal, reveal how Europe's aggressive shift toward wasteful defence spending is a delusion built on exaggerated threats, and uncover a widening technological chasm...
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Germany’s historic humiliation & Britain's financial trap
In this episode of The Econoclasts, Yanis Varoufakis and Wolfgang Munchau debunk conventional wisdom by analysing Germany’s shocking UN Security Council voting failure as a symptom of its diplomatic hubris and international unpopularity, while tearing down the illusion of British sovereignty to...
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AI's job apocalypse & the transhumanist endgame
In this episode of The Econoclasts, Yanis Varoufakis and Wolfgang Munchau debunk the delusions surrounding artificial intelligence by examining how its recent ability to solve complex mathematical problems signals a massive structural threat to the global labour market, while warning against the...
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Europe’s China trap & capitalism’s AI death knell
In this episode of The Econoclasts, Yanis Varoufakis and Wolfgang Munchau debunk the mainstream economic orthodoxies surrounding Europe's aggressive tariff strategy against China while simultaneously warning that the rise of AI and Big Tech is not the future of market capitalism but rather its...
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Trump's secret China truce & Labour's economic chaos
In this episode of The Econoclasts, Yanis Varoufakis and Wolfgang Munchau debunk the mainstream narratives around Donald Trump’s recent Beijing summit, reveal how the West’s geopolitical delusions disadvantage it in a new cold war with China, and expose the flawed economic strategy of Manchester...
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The end of Starmer & Trump’s shady Iran scam
🔗Get your tickets for The Econoclasts Live with Hasan Piker here: http://unherd.com/econoclastslive In this episode of The Econoclasts, Yanis Varoufakis and Wolfgang Munchau dissect Keir Starmer’s attempts to maintain power in a declining UK economy alongside the paradoxical surge in US market...
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Trump vs. Merz & how London broke Britain
🔗Get your tickets for The Econoclasts Live with Hasan Piker here: http://unherd.com/econoclastslive In this episode of The Econoclasts, Yanis Varoufakis and Wolfgang Munchau debunk the myth of European strategic sovereignty and the lie at the heart of the City of London, exposing how Germany’s...
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The dollar's Gulf bail-out & the end of US hegemony
In this episode of The Econoclasts, Yanis Varoufakis and Wolfgang Munchau debunk the orthodox view that the newly established U.S. dollar swap lines for Gulf states are a charitable bailout for the Middle East, arguing instead that these facilities are a desperate signalling mechanism designed to...
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China's AI war victory & Europe's desperate Russia reunion
In this episode of The Econoclasts, Yanis Varoufakis and Wolfgang Munchau pull back the curtain on the fairy tales of Western geopolitical and technological independence, arguing that Europe is sleepwalking into a decade of industrial decline and techno-vassalage because it has allowed its core...
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Trump’s Hormuz backlash & Hungary’s revolution illusion
In this episode of The Econoclasts, Yanis Varoufakis and Wolfgang Munchau dismantle the orthodoxies surrounding the Iran war and Hungarian election by arguing that Donald Trump’s "blockade of the blockade" in the Strait of Hormuz is less a repeat of the 1956 Suez crisis than a catalyst for a new...
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Iran’s asymmetric victory & Europe’s looming energy shock
In this episode of The Econoclasts, Yanis Varoufakis and Wolfgang Munchau dissect the crumbling facade of Western geostrategic and economic orthodoxies, arguing that the United States has already reached a military checkmate against Iran, while simultaneously warning that Europe’s delusion of...
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Europe’s Iran delusion & Palantir’s road to extinction
In this episode of The Econoclasts, Yanis Varoufakis and Wolfgang Munchau dismantle the orthodoxies of European leadership and AI-driven warfare, breaking down how the EU’s structural fragmentation make it incapable of filling the global power vacuum, and exposing how corporations like Palantir...
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Econoclasts LIVE: Iran and the New World Disorder
Live from a packed Emmanuel Centre, the Econoclasts brought their podcast to London for a sweeping ‘around-the-globe’ deconstruction of the failing orthodoxies shaping our modern world. From the structural drivers of ‘forever wars’ in the Middle East to a sobering analysis of the Ukraine-Russia...
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The West’s Iran crisis: Global recession & Russian revenue
In this episode of The Econoclasts, Yanis Varoufakis and Wolfgang Munchau dismantle the narratives surrounding the closure of the Strait of Hormuz, breaking down how the resulting energy shock could trigger a permanent global recession. As the West faces systemic economic damage and a depleted...
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How Iran exposed the West’s military weakness
🔗 Click the following link to get tickets to 'The Econoclasts LIVE' in London on March 23rd: https://unherd.com/econoclastslive In this episode of The Econoclasts, Yanis Varoufakis and Wolfgang Munchau strip away the orthodoxies surrounding the ongoing conflict with Iran, and – via analysis of…
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NATO’s hidden agenda & why Europe will fail Ukraine
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…
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Trump’s Iran strikes and the new forever war
🔗 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/econoclastslive In this episode of The Econoclasts, Yanis Varoufakis and Wolfgang Munchau dissect the geopolitical fallout of the U.S. bombing...
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Why Trump will win the tariff war
🔗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...
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Marco Rubio’s new world order & Starmer’s plan to rejoin Europe
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…
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The Starmer-Mandelson-Epstein scandal & Musk’s merger
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...
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Why gold and silver crashed & Trump’s Fed Chair pick
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...
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“This isn’t over”: Trump, Greenland & the Davos delusion
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…
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Europe’s fatal Greenland mistake & China’s real power
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…
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Trump’s war on the Fed & Bulgaria’s Euro disaster
In the week when the Trump administration threatened criminal charges against Federal Reserve chair Jerome Powell, Yanis Varoufakis and Wolfgang Munchau expose the high-stakes power struggle to dismantle central bank independence and privatise the U.S. dollar. Added to Bulgaria’s controversial...
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Venezuela special: Maduro, oil, and Trump’s next target
In today’s Venezuela special, Yanis Varoufakis and Wolfgang Munchau expose the reality behind the abduction of Nicolás Maduro and the dawn of a ‘Donroe Doctrine’ that signals the end of international law. As the first days of 2026 unfold, could Trump’s gangster-style intervention actually be...
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2025: The West’s annus horribilis
In this special year-end edition of The Econoclasts, Yanis Varoufakis and Wolfgang Munchau dissect 2025 - a pivotal year and annus horribilis for the European Union in a world reshaped by a G2 power structure, where a resurgent Russia, a technologically dominant China, and a tariff-wielding Trump...
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Q&A: Germany’s economic death trap & the truth about BRICS
This week on a special Q&A edition of The Econoclasts, Yanis Varoufakis and Wolfgang Munchau confront the uncomfortable truths of 2025. From the economic death trap currently paralysing German society, to why nationalist parties like the AfD are sympathetic to Putin, America’s waning interest in...
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Greece’s doom loop & why Europe can’t stand up to Trump
This week, Yanis Varoufakis and Wolfgang Munchau take aim at two prevailing myths: the widespread belief that Greece's recovery is a heartwarming success story—a model for debt-laden nations like Germany and the UK—and the soft centre-left idea that the EU can "go it alone" and challenge the…
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The AI bubble myth & the truth about Trump’s Venezuela attacks
This week, Yanis Varoufakis and Wolfgang Munchau take aim at two prevailing orthodoxies. Is the explosive AI boom really a bubble, or is the technology itself forcing a non-reversible shift away from capitalism and toward a new age of Techno-Feudalism? Plus, are Trump's orders to sink Venezuelan...
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Europe’s identity crisis: Empty values & defence delusion
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…
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Trump’s Ukraine peace plan & the truth about the crypto crash
This week on The Econoclasts, Yanis Varoufakis and Wolfgang Munchau challenge two global orthodoxies: Europe's cynical strategy in the Ukraine war and the alleged freedom of the cryptocurrency world. Are European leaders actively frustrating any Ukraine peace plan to buy time for re-armament? And...
About this show
The Econoclasts is a new podcast from UnHerd hosted by economist Yanis Varoufakis and journalist Wolfgang Munchau. While they don't always agree politically, they are united in one conviction: the consensus is rotten. Mainstream economics has consistently failed to predict the events that shape our world, yet this broken orthodoxy still dominates policy and media. Each week, they choose two pillars of the established orthodoxy — the "settled facts" — and shatter them, cutting through the spin to connect the dots between money, geopolitics, and the real forces shaping our future.
Don't forget to rate, like and subscribe wherever you get your podcasts.
Hosted by
UnHerd