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.
Curated by: UnHerd (58 videos)
🔗Go to our sponsor https://venice.ai/unherd and use code unherd to enjoy private, uncensored AI. Using our code will get you 20% off a pro plan. 📰 Subscribe to UnHerd today at: https://bit.ly/4cfaeH0 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 innovation to be hollowed out by Silicon Valley, while simultaneously failing to acknowledge the reality that its own energy security and economic survival will ultimately force a desperate reconnection with Russia, even as China successfully weaponises Western sanctions and digital isolation to leapfrog a generation ahead in the global AI war. Watch it on the UnHerd website: https://unherd.com/watch-listen/europes-reconnection-with-russia-is-inevitable/ Listen to the podcast: https://plnk.to/unherd?to=page Advertise on UnHerd @ zoe.white@unherd.com Follow UnHerd on social media: Twitter: https://twitter.com/unherd Facebook: https://www.facebook.com/unherd/ Instagram: https://www.instagram.com/unherd/ TikTok: https://www.tiktok.com/@unherdtv //TIMECODES// 00:00 - 00:59 - Intro 00:59 - 03:34 - Today’s topics 03:34 - 04:34 - Sponsor: Venice AI 04:34 - 06:54 - Europe’s energy dependence on Russia 06:54 - 12:03 - Peace‑deal politics and LNG corridor plan 12:03 - 15:22 - War unsustainability and German economic strain 15:22 - 16:11 - Collapse fears and segue to AI 16:11 - 19:10 - Cloud capital, AI and EU regulation 19:10 - 24:38 - Why Europe has no AI champions 24:38 - 30:07 - Aleph Alpha, policy failure and defensiveness 30:07 - 33:13 - Sanctions, China’s leapfrog and Europe’s decline 33:13 - 33:41 - Outro #UnHerd #China #Russia