V: Is it a bird? Is it a plane? No, it's economic recovery man

The choice of my letter V reason to be cheerful could be construed as cheating, but in the A to Z Challenge the end sometimes has to justify the means.

So the letter V is for Varoufakis, the surname of the Greek finance minister. The reason this is cheating slightly is that in the Greek alphabet his name starts with the letter β which as a capital letter looks like this, Β, but is pronounced as a V as in victory. Hence, Yanis Varoufakis in the Greek alphabet comes out as Γιάνης Βαρουφάκης.

Ever since he became finance minister following the elections in January this year, he's made quite an impression. He seems to be quite a straight shooter when it comes to saying what he thinks, he clearly knows his way round economic theory and he's got a shaven head. Oh, and let's not forget he doesn't wear a tie and sometimes does wear a leather jacket.

That's Mr Varoufakis, to you.

Bizarrely, it's his appearance that seems to earn Mr Varoufakis most attention from the media. Certainly he does cut a striking figure next to some of his anaemic-looking counterparts from other European countries, some of whom look as if they're never happier than when they're telling someone else off for not keeping all their banknotes in pristine order.

There has also been the issue of whether or not he suggested that Greeks should "give the finger" to Germany over the euro crisis. This is something he denies having done and I see no reason to doubt him.

Whether he and the rest of the Greek government can steer Greece away from economic disaster remains to be seen. He wouldn't be the first bright person to find himself beaten by the massed ranks of whingers and nitpickers. Even so, I wish him good luck, as things stand he and the rest of the government and the Greek people are going to need plenty of it.

I chose an Ian Dury song to go with this post. It celebrates the clever people there have been in human history, but I should point out there is a very modest amount of swearing. I hope this won't spoil your enjoyment of what is a good song.

• Question: Do you think Mr Varoufakis should wear a tie or is that completely missing the point? Let me know in the comments section.