Varoufakis' drachma nostalgia

Moreover, the self-described “erratic Marxist” economist and academic said he wouldn’t sign a bailout deal that would send Greece into a “death spiral”. Months ago he told the BBC that Greece didn’t need the final bailout tranche of 7.2 bln euros, with the ensuing period witnessing practically half the leftist Cabinet criss-cross Europe and beyond to secure the money.

Varoufakis told the 19th Economist Roundtable with the Greek Government that he would reject any agreement in which “the numbers do not add up”. But reports released a day earlier pointed to continuing “recession”.

“I wish we had the drachma, I wish we had never entered this monetary union … And I think that deep down all member-states of the eurozone would agree with that now; because it was very badly constructed. But once you are in, you don’t get out without a catastrophe,” he said.