Mad Men

• His late father, a chemical engineer in a steel plant, instilled in his son a critical appreciation of how technology drives social change.
• In his striking response, Varoufakis argues that we no longer live in a capitalist society; capitalism has morphed into a “technologically advanced form of feudalism”.
• Review: Technofeudalism: What Killed Capitalism – Yanis Varoufakis (Bodley Head)

Rent over profit

• Such capitalists are clearly still flourishing, but Varoufakis argues they are not driving the economy in the way they used to.
• “In the early 19th century,” he writes,
  many feudal relations remained intact, but capitalist relations had begun to dominate.
• many feudal relations remained intact, but capitalist relations had begun to dominate.

• If you are a seller, the platform will determine how you can sell and which customers you can approach.
• The terms in which you interact, share information and trade are dictated by an “algo” that “works for [Jeff Bezos’] bottom line”.
• This is not extracting profit through the production or provision of goods and services, as these platforms are not a “service” in the sense in which the term is used in economics.
• They are extracting rents in the form of the huge cuts they take from the capitalists on their platforms.

Cloud serfs

• Every time we use our cloud-linked devices – smartphones, laptops, Alexa, Google Assistant, Siri – we replenish the capital of the Big Tech cloudalists.
• This in turn increases their capacity to generate more wealth.
• We train their algorithms, which train us, to train them, and so on, in a feedback loop whose goal is to shape our desires and behaviour.
• They could innovate “attention-grabbing” ways of “manufacturing” consumer desires – and it was delivered free-to-air!

Quantitative easing

• First, the “internet commons” of Web 1.0 transformed into Web 2.0, privatised by American and Chinese Big Tech.
• Coupled with “austerity” economics for the many, this “murder[ed] investment” and led to what Varoufakis calls “gilded stagnation”.
• Much of the central bank money, particularly following another round of quantitative easing during the COVID pandemic, made its way to the Big Tech companies.
• In an environment where profit became “optional”, loss-making Big Tech companies run by “intrepid and talented entrepreneurs” chose to build up their cloud capital.

GFC: the turning point

• So why was the GFC such a pivotal point?
• From the 1970s, economies were progressively deregulated and free-market policies were increasingly enthusiastically practised, leading to a new “financialised” version of capitalism.
• Their collapse in 2008 would have taken down the US banking system, and the rest of the world with it.
• What happened instead was that bankers, handed large bailouts, did not direct the money to where it was most needed.
• Read more:
  'Greed is amoral': how Wall Street supermen cashed in on pandemic misery and chaos

A tech-driven economic revolution

• For Varoufakis, we are not just living through a tech revolution, but a tech-driven economic revolution.
• He challenges us to come to terms with just what has happened to our economies – and our societies – in the era of Big Tech and Big Finance.

• The first decades of the 21st century have brought challenges that we are still struggling to come to grips with.
• One thing is for sure – we have no hope of improving things without properly understanding our predicament.
• The proposals are pretty radical, but I think Varoukais would say they are as radical as the times require them to be.

Christopher Pollard does not work for, consult, own shares in or receive funding from any company or organization that would benefit from this article, and has disclosed no relevant affiliations beyond their academic appointment.

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• “We are so honoured that Jodi and Jennifer gave us the opportunity to bring this powerful story to new audiences.
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• NEW YORK, April 4, 2023 /PRNewswire/ -- The Paley Center for Media announces today The "1923" Exhibit: Costume Design Across Three Continents, an immersive exhibition featuring the craftsmanship and artistry of the Emmy Award–winning costume designer Janie Bryant.
• In this exhibit, visitors will experience how Bryant's costumes shape the characters' stories and help develop the world of 1923.
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• The Paley Center for Media is open 12:00 pm to 6:00 pm on Wednesdays to Sundays.

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• View the full release here: https://www.businesswire.com/news/home/20230209005734/en/
  Screen Media acquires Jon Hamm and Tina Fey-led thriller "Maggie Moore(s)."