Welcome to the era of techno-feudalism.

GreeceYanis Varoufakis, who became known for defending debt-ridden Greece from its German creditors. Varoufakis never regained the popularity of 2015, but remained an important voice of the left. After an unsuccessful campaign for a seat in the European Parliament in 2019, he plans to run again this June. This time his opponents are not Berlin or the banks, but technology companies, which he accuses of distorting the economy and fomenting strife between people.

Varoufakis is also a prolific author; his 17th book, written in the form of a letter to his techno-loving father, charts the evolution of capitalism from the 1960s advertising boom through 1980s Wall Street, to the 2008 financial crisis and pandemic. In its most compelling sections, “Technofeudalism” argues that Apple, Facebook, and Amazon have so radically changed the economy that it now resembles the medieval feudal system of Europe. The tech giants are lords, while everyone else is a peasant working their land for little in return.

According to Varoufakis, every time you post on X, formerly known as Twitter, you are the essence of a laborer on Ilon Musk's lot, like a medieval serf. Musk doesn't pay you.

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But your free labor pays him, in the sense of increasing the value of his company. On X, the more active users, the more people can see the ads orbuysubscriptions. On Google Maps, he believes users improve the product by alerting the system to traffic jams on their route.

Comparisons to feudalism are not new. But “Technofeudalism” tries to present the idea to a wider audience. Its release inU.S.launched a month before regulators in the U.S. and European Union simultaneously launched antitrust actions against Apple, was also perfectly timed.

On Zoom, I spoke to Varoufakis from hishousesnearAthenson how tech giants have changed the economy - and why we should care.