The latest Greek bank bailout constitutes a cautionary tale

The troika’s disastrous policy has cost taxpayers dearly, writes Yanis Varoufakis

Since 2008, bank bailouts have entailed a significant transfer of private losses to taxpayers in Europe and the United States. The latest Greek bank bailout constitutes a cautionary tale about how politics — in this case, Europe’s — is geared toward maximising public losses for questionable private benefits.

In 2012, the insolvent Greek state borrowed €41bn (or 22% of Greece’s shrinking national income) from European taxpayers to recapitalise the country’s insolvent commercial banks.