The famed former Greek finance minister has an 11-year-old daughter, Xenia, in Australia. Knowing she will have learned about the indigenous inhabitants of that continent, he starts this paternal polemic on capitalism by twisting a familiar fact, asking why Aboriginal Australians didn’t invade Britain.

This sets the tone for a provocative, challenging, yet non-patronising analysis of the global economy: what it is, how it came to be and why it can never be apolitical. By using ancient myths, contemporary culture and family stories, Varoufakis makes the text intimate and accessible.

He may be one of our most celebrated economists, but he pulls no punches for fellow practitioners of the “gloomy science”, likening them to astrologers claiming to be astronomers. Concerned about our increasingly automated future, he encourages his child to make up her own mind. His advice, for all its imperfections, favours a Greek invention: democracy.

• Talking to My Daughter About the Economy by Yanis Varoufakis is published by Bodley Head (£14.99). To order a copy for £10.49 go to bookshop.theguardian.com or call 0330 333 6846. Free UK p&p over £10, online orders only. Phone orders min p&p of £1.99