Technofeudalism was written by Yanis Varoufakis. The book attempts to make sense of the current economic landscape with some controversial takes. I would summarise them as:

  • Surveillance capitalism. People using social media as a form of labour.
  • High corporate power concentration thanks to free stimulus money. Monopolies seeking rents

The monopoly rent seeking behaviour is a regression of capitalism, and it is happening because of all the capital accumulated by these new tech companies.

The surveillance capitalism aspect is changing how people think about work and ultimately causing people to work for an alternative currency of reputation or attention.

There were some chapters on the global perspective, with China and US fighting for influence through their tech platforms while everybody else is behind.

I found the solutions chapter a bit underdeveloped and too close to Marx’s ideas on socialism. I don’t think the worker as shareholder is particularly viable and I suspect that regular unions are more likely to succeed.

Do I recommend this book? It is stimulating but not for everyone. It is an interesting premise which might be useful as an economic model/framework. A reframing of socialism and the nature of work, although not explored to the depth that I would like.