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Debt and Power in the Digital Age

This year the Birmingham Business School Advisory Board invites Yanis Varoufakis to deliver a lecture on Global Economy and Debt in the Digital Age.
A lecturer's picture
    • Date
      Thursday, 19 November 2026 (17:30 - 19:00) (UK)
    • Location
      Main Lecture Theatre (G03), Alan Walters Building, University of Birmingham, Edgbaston, Birmingham, B15 2SB

In light of the race for technological supremacy, and with AI intensifying that contest, Yanis Varoufakis will tackle one of the defining economic paradoxes of our age: how the countries that dominate the global economy have the largest global debt.

By highlighting how this connects with digital power and geopolitical rivalry, Yanis will call out how and where control of data and cloud infrastructure is concentrating economic power and the implications of this for economic prosperity, and any prospect of peace and stability, if the current economic system is not challenged.

Speaker Biography

Yanis Varoufakis
Professor of Economic Theory (Athens) and former Greek Finance Minister

Yanis Varoufakis is a globally renowned economist and author who came to prominence during the Greek debt crisis when he was called upon to serve as Greece's Finance Minister. Since then, he has become one of the world's most recognisable and provocative voices on debt, economic power and global stability. He is Professor of Economic Theory at the University of Athens and a University of Birmingham alumnus, having completed his MSc in Mathematical Statistics here in 1982.

The Annual Birmingham Business School Advisory Board Guest Lecture is the pivotal event of the Business School calendar is always given in response to a key issue in business that has come to the fore during the year. Find out about previous lectures.

Location

Address
Main Lecture Theatre (G03)Alan Walters BuildingUniversity of BirminghamEdgbastonBirminghamB15 2SB