★编辑推荐
●希腊前财长眼中的欧洲主权债务危机
●国际政治版《纸牌屋》
●在国际政治里只有利益，没有道义，突破一国之内常规政治斗争底线
●希腊前财长回忆希腊主权债务危机的来龙去脉，一书窥探当代世界政治经济的波谲云诡
●希腊主权债务危机凸显的是欧洲的困局，欧洲的困局折射的是整个西方世界的窘境
★名人推荐
●杰弗里•萨克斯、马丁•沃尔夫、斯拉沃热•齐泽克、诺姆•乔姆斯基，一群永无可能站在一起的人共同称赞。
●杰弗里•萨克斯、马丁•沃尔夫、斯拉沃热•齐泽克、诺姆•乔姆斯基，一群永无可能站在一起的人共同称赞。
●杰弗里•萨克斯（经济学家、联合国秘书长前顾问）：我们时代的修昔底德。
●马丁•沃尔夫（经济学家、《金融时报》副主编）：一个非常、非常聪明的人，在关于欧洲的基本争论中，我认为他是对的。
●斯拉沃热•齐泽克（具有全球影响力的斯洛文尼亚思想家）：我心目中为数不多的英雄之一。只要有瓦鲁法克斯这样的人在，就还有希望。
●诺姆•乔姆斯基（美国左派思想家）：一位杰出的经济学家和政治分析家。
★媒体推荐
●《泰晤士报》年度时政图书
●《卫报》：《房间里的成年人》是一本对现代国际政治感兴趣的人均有必要读一读的书。欧元区危机，欧洲政治现状，改良主义政治的逻辑、局限性及其得以运行的原因，以上种种的内幕，该书均有精彩描写……瓦鲁法克斯剖析了一个执意要维持其自身糟糕逻辑而排斥其他选择的政治机器，其见地着实令人震惊。……瓦鲁法克斯写出了有史以来颇为伟大的政治回忆录之一……这是一个局外人讲述的国际政治的内幕故事……瓦鲁法克斯对现代权力的描述是有史以来颇为准确、颇为详细的。
●《华盛顿邮报》：《房间里的成年人》读起来就像一本小说，故事是一个骑着摩托车环游世界的英雄如何对抗暗黑又愚蠢的欧洲强权。
●《商业内幕》：世界上颇为有趣的人。
★内容简介
2008年，起源于美国的次贷危机引发了一场席卷全球的金融危机。为了稳定和刺激经济，各国政府纷纷实施积极的财政政策，财政赤字和公共债务由此不断扩张。特别是部分欧盟国家，为了维持高福利，本来就长期实施赤字财政，并大规模举债，在金融危机影响之下，赤字和负债都达到了惊人的规模。2009年10月，希腊政府突然宣布，由于公共账目造假，自身财政赤字与公共债务占国内生产总值的比例实际分别达到12.7%和113%，远超欧盟《稳定与增长公约》规定的3%和60%上限。自此，希腊主权债务危机正式拉开序幕。
希腊作为欧元区国家，随即与欧盟展开了救助协商。而欧盟对财政紧缩的严苛要求和希腊极力想不受惩罚脱身的渴望之间，相去不啻十万八千里。
谈判桌上唇枪舌剑，谈判桌下屈辱妥协，欧盟对希腊强力施压，希腊政府对民众难以交代，政治精英处心积虑于自己的前途，银行家千方百计地降低自己的损失，普通民众只能用选票为自己的未知命运开出一条更加难以预测的前路，而看穿一切的知识精英在此时登场了……
本书的故事就从这里开始。2015年初，欧盟委员会、欧洲央行和国际货币基金组织（“三驾马车”）为救助希腊采取的紧缩措施越来越严厉，严重拖累了本就存在结构性问题的希腊经济，使该国陷入财政紧缩—经济衰退的恶性循环之中。债务危机并未化解，政治和社会却持续动荡。绝望的希腊民众将反对实施紧缩政策以换取救助贷款的激进左翼联盟推上了执政舞台。身为资深经济学教授、知名博弈论专家的瓦鲁法克斯——也就是本书作者，临危受命出任财政部长，负责与“三驾马车”继续展开已陷入僵局的谈判。
作者试图通过本书讲述，在自己任职的162天里，他是如何意欲重构希腊与欧盟关系，进而引发了一场影响全球的宏大斗争的。与欧盟和国际货币基金组织展开闭门谈判，在华盛顿密会权力掮客，清算本党政策主张争取中国支持，努力通过公投方式决定是否接受苛刻的救助条件，为了赢得更大谈判空间凛然辞职……他怀揣新的政策主张，游走于全球权力场，在与奥巴马、普京、默克尔、马克龙、拉加德、萨默斯等等大人物的对话与争论中，力图为希腊争得一个新的未来。他解决问题的逻辑简单而清晰，最终却不得不屈服于全球权力格局形成的大网。
- 希腊前财长亲历主权债务危机谈判内幕
- 揭露欧盟内部大国博弈与小国困境
- 剖析国际政治中利益至上无道义逻辑
- 关注国际政治与宏观经济读者
- 对欧洲危机及欧盟运作感兴趣者
- 喜欢政治回忆录与权力博弈故事者
- 注意作者单方视角可能存在的局限
- 全书篇幅较长需耐心阅读
- 结合背景理解紧缩政策与债务重组
- 提供珍贵的局内人一手视角
- 叙事精彩如政治版纸牌屋
- 部分读者认为篇幅冗长且视角单一
本导读基于书籍简介、目录、原文摘录、短评和书评生成，不等同于全文精读。
- "‘There are two kinds of politicians,’ he said: ‘insiders and outsiders. The outsiders prioritize their freedom to speak their version of the truth. The price of their freedom is that they are ignored by the insiders, who make the important decisions. The insiders, for their part, follow a sacrosanct"
- "Feeling he needed to wrap up his soliloquy, he rushed to the one thing he wanted from me: I want to implore you to promise me something. I know you will win the election. I talk to people on the street and there is no doubt that you will. Please, when you win, when you are in office, remember those "
- "In very good English he asked permission to address me. ‘Of course,’ I said. ‘Minister,’ he said, ‘I want you to know that what you are doing is very important – not only for your country but also for us. You are giving us hope that there is a chance that we shall be liberated too.’ Whenever I hear "
- "If you cannot imagine walking out of a negotiation, you should never enter it. If you cannot fathom the idea of an impasse you might as well confine yourself to the role of a supplicant who implores the despot to grant him several privileges but who accepts in the final analysis whatever the despot "
- "I recall something my father said to me when he realized that, at a young age, I was becoming enthusiastic about left-wing politics. ‘When I was in the concentration camp as a communist,’ he said, ‘I knew that, had our side won the civil war, I would be in the same camp only with different guards.’ "
- "I witnessed first hand what I can only describe as a naked class war that targeted the weak and scandalously favoured the ruling class. It came to my attention, for example, that some of the employees in my ministry, specifically the chair, CEO and members of the board of the Hellenic Financial Stab"
- "Over the winter and spring of 2016 I puzzled many friends in the UK with my campaign against Brexit. ‘How can you tell us to stay in the EU after the way Greece has been treated?’ they would protest. ‘We want our country back!’ was their wholly legitimate demand. ‘So do we,’ I would respond. But to "
- "There are two kinds of politicians, insiders and outsiders. The outsiders prioritize their freedom to speak their version of the truth. The price of their freedom is that they are ignored by the insiders, who make the important decisions. The insiders, for their part, follow a sacrosanct rule: never"
