Yanis Varousfakis writes:\u00a0 Game theorists analyze negotiations as if they were split-a-pie games involving selfish players. Because I spent many years during my previous life as an academic researching game theory, some commentators rushed to presume that as Greece\u2019s new finance minister I was busily devising bluffs, stratagems and outside\u00a0 struggling to improve upon a weak hand. Nothing could be further from the truth.<\/p>\n
If anything, my game-theory background convinced me that it would be pure folly to think of the current deliberations between Greece and our partners as a bargaining game to be won or lost via bluffs and tactical subterfuge.<\/p>\n
The trouble with game theory\u00a0 is that it takes for granted the players\u2019 motives. To fashion a fresh mind-set that transcends national divides, dissolves the creditor-debtor distinction in favor of a pan-European perspective, and places the common European good above petty politics, dogma that proves toxic if universalized, and an us-versus-them mind-set.<\/p>\n
As finance minister of a small, fiscally stressed nation lacking its own central bank and seen by many of our partners as a problem debtor, I am convinced that we have one option only: to shun any temptation to treat this pivotal moment as an experiment in strategizing and, instead, to present honestly the facts concerning Greece\u2019s social economy, table our proposals for regrowing Greece, explain why these are in Europe\u2019s interest, and reveal the red lines beyond which logic and duty prevent us from going.<\/p>\n
We are determined to clash with mighty vested interests in order to reboot Greece and gain our partners\u2019 trust. We are also determined not to be treated as a debt colony that should suffer what it must.<\/p>\n
What if the only way you can secure funding is to cross your red lines and accept measures that you consider to be part of the problem, rather than of its solution.<\/p>\n
Against such cynicism the new Greek government will innovate. We shall desist, whatever the consequences, from deals that are wrong for Greece and wrong for Europe. The \u201cextend and pretend\u201d game that began after Greece\u2019s public debt became unserviceable in 2010 will end. No more loans \u2014 not until we have a credible plan for growing the economy in order to repay those loans, help the middle class get back on its feet and address the hideous humanitarian crisis. No more \u201creform\u201d programs that target poor pensioners and family-owned pharmacies while leaving large-scale corruption untouched.<\/p>\n
Our government is not asking our partners for a way out of repaying our debts. We are asking for a few months of financial stability that will allow us to embark upon the task of reforms that the broad Greek population can own and support, so we can bring back growth and end our inability to pay our dues.<\/p>\n
We know by looking into the eyes of the hungry in the streets of our cities or contemplating our stressed middle class, or considering the interests of hard-working people in every European village and city within our monetary union. After all, Europe will only regain its soul when it regains the people\u2019s trust by putting their interests center-stage.<\/p>\n
Yanis Varousfakis writes:\u00a0 Game theorists analyze negotiations as if they were split-a-pie games involving selfish players. Because I spent many years during my previous life as an academic researching game theory, some commentators rushed to presume that as Greece\u2019s new … Continue reading ![\"Yanis](\"http:\/\/www.w-t-w.org\/en\/wp-content\/uploads\/2015\/02\/Yanis-Varoufakis.jpg\")
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