'If you can't explain the economy in a language young people can understand, you are clueless yourself.'
So says former Greek finance minister Yanis Varoufakis, whose book "Talking to My Daugher About the Economy" is a testament to his own mastery of the subject.
Varoufakis' six months as finance minister coincided with the most dramatic chapter in the fight against EU-imposed austerity; he was an outsized figure in the negotiations, showing up at the European parliament on a motorcycle to rail eloquently (and ultimately futilely) against a debt cancelation plan he said would shackle his country to sluggish growth for a generation.
The experience, he says, did nothing to change his distrust of bankers and economists. He believes that by leaving the economy to the experts, we give up our power to insist on accountability from politicians, and to ensure that democracy itself isn't lost.
