Perhaps the best known and respected conservative German economist, Hans-Werner Sinn (Munich University and for many years Chair of Ifo Institute), had this to say in reaction to the claims of various troika officials that I cost Greece billions of euros: “Yanis Varoufakis has acted very prudently and wisely to defend Greek interests… Arguing, conversely, that his policies cost the Greek state money is an absurd distortion of the truth.” Nothing upsets the troika functionaries more than a respected German economist, who advised a sequence of German governments over decades, exposing their campaign of vilification against me.

FULL STATEMENT BY PROFESSOR HANS-WERNER SINN (Munich University and formerly Chair of the IfO Institute)

Yanis Varoufakis has acted very prudently and wisely to defend Greek interests. Without his threat of introducing a parallel payments system (that could, ultimately, become the new currency that would have facilitated Grexit), the community of states would not have been willing to come up with a third rescue programme. He has saved the Greek state many billions of euros. Arguing, conversely, that his policies cost the Greek state money is an absurd distortion of the truth.