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Confessions of an Economic Hit Man
 
 
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Confessions of an Economic Hit Man [Hardcover]

John Perkins (Author)
3.8 out of 5 stars  See all reviews (22 customer reviews)
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John Perkins started and stopped writing Confessions of an Economic Hit Man four times over 20 years. He says he was threatened and bribed in an effort to kill the project, but after 9/11 he finally decided to go through with this expose of his former professional life. Perkins, a former chief economist at Boston strategic-consulting firm Chas. T. Main, says he was an "economic hit man" for 10 years, helping U.S. intelligence agencies and multinationals cajole and blackmail foreign leaders into serving U.S. foreign policy and awarding lucrative contracts to American business. "Economic hit men (EHMs) are highly paid professionals who cheat countries around the globe out of trillions of dollars," Perkins writes. Confessions of an Economic Hit Man is an extraordinary and gripping tale of intrigue and dark machinations. Think John Le Carré, except it's a true story.

Perkins writes that his economic projections cooked the books Enron-style to convince foreign governments to accept billions of dollars of loans from the World Bank and other institutions to build dams, airports, electric grids, and other infrastructure he knew they couldn't afford. The loans were given on condition that construction and engineering contracts went to U.S. companies. Often, the money would simply be transferred from one bank account in Washington, D.C., to another one in New York or San Francisco. The deals were smoothed over with bribes for foreign officials, but it was the taxpayers in the foreign countries who had to pay back the loans. When their governments couldn't do so, as was often the case, the U.S. or its henchmen at the World Bank or International Monetary Fund would step in and essentially place the country in trusteeship, dictating everything from its spending budget to security agreements and even its United Nations votes. It was, Perkins writes, a clever way for the U.S. to expand its "empire" at the expense of Third World citizens. While at times he seems a little overly focused on conspiracies, perhaps that's not surprising considering the life he's led. --Alex Roslin

From Publishers Weekly

Perkins spent the 1970s working as an economic planner for an international consulting firm, a job that took him to exotic locales like Indonesia and Panama, helping wealthy corporations exploit developing nations as, he claims, a not entirely unwitting front for the National Security Agency. He says he was trained early in his career by a glamorous older woman as one of many "economic hit men" advancing the cause of corporate hegemony. He also says he has wanted to tell his story for the last two decades, but his shadowy masters have either bought him off or threatened him until now. The story as presented is implausible to say the least, offering so few details that Perkins often seems paranoid, and the simplistic political analysis doesn’t enhance his credibility. Despite the claim that his work left him wracked with guilt, the artless prose is emotionally flat and generally comes across as a personal crisis of conscience blown up to monstrous proportions, casting Perkins as a victim not only of his own neuroses over class and money but of dark forces beyond his control. His claim to have assisted the House of Saud in strengthening its ties to American power brokers may be timely enough to attract some attention, but the yarn he spins is ultimately unconvincing, except perhaps to conspiracy buffs.
Copyright © Reed Business Information, a division of Reed Elsevier Inc. All rights reserved.
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Customer Reviews

22 Reviews
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Average Customer Review
3.8 out of 5 stars (22 customer reviews)
 
 
 
 
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6 of 7 people found the following review helpful
5.0 out of 5 stars A must read for every human-being, Mar 8 2005
By A Customer
This review is from: Confessions of an Economic Hit Man (Hardcover)
One of greatest books written about the empire building. It'll just make you wake up and look around understand where we are heading as a society. Instead of brushing everything off as a conspiracy theory it's time to rise up and ask the right questions. John Perkins has put his life online by exposing the truth. I just hope more people read it and take some action to make this world better for everyone to live.
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12 of 15 people found the following review helpful
5.0 out of 5 stars Excellent balance between personal story and history, Mar 29 2005
This review is from: Confessions of an Economic Hit Man (Hardcover)
This book is at once an autobiography, a 20th century history of America and a call to action. These elements are balanced very well with a very readable narrative style.

The history in this book is somewhat controversial. It is the less-shiny aspects of history which may or may not be taught in US schools (I will not make assumptions here), but which is easily accessible if one only looks for it. It is also quite well-documented and supported by evidence. Perkins discusses American corporate and governmental involvement with Saudi Arabia, Indonesia, Nicaragua, Panama, Ecuador and many other nations from a first hand perspective.

What is interesting is that we see this history as the setting for a very personal story, through the eyes of a participant. As the title suggests, it is in fact a confession. Perkins was an important player in some of the darker aspects of subtle non-governmental foreign policy, and he is not an apologist.

He shows a little bit of the psychology of people who commit evil acts on behalf of organizations to which they belong. For example, structures set up to do harm can generally find people with the personality characteristics that can be capitalized upon - greed, ambition, etc. What this means is, rather than simply provoking hate towards individuals who are perpetuating exploitation, Perkins reveals the underlying broader issues, such as the consequences of the misuse of power and profit. I think he very effectively places the specifics of historical facts (as well as his story) in context in a way that historical texts typically do not.

Although it is not a prescriptive book as such, Perkins does offer some ideas and suggestions at the end as to what individuals can do if they believe in trying to ameliorate the situation he has presented.

I found it to be both a compelling page turner and very factual at the same time. Highly recommended for the history buff, social activist, avid biography reader, news junkie, or really anyone who cares about the world we live in.

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13 of 17 people found the following review helpful
2.0 out of 5 stars Information-lite and fairly empty, Feb 12 2006
By A Customer
This review is from: Confessions of an Economic Hit Man (Paperback)
The general thesis of this book, while interesting, is not nearly as informative as it should be. The idea of colonialisation by economics has been apparent to many of those who pay attention to U.S. foreign policy for any length of time, and the author doesn't really do much to add to the notion other than to say, "I did it".

Beyond that, it seems a fairly empty confession, since he seems more than forgiving to himself, given that he worked for 10 years to bleed developing nations to his own, self-acknowledged, accumulation of wealth and status. Then, for 10 years afterwards, he gets paid executive salary to be a 'consultant' for this selfsame company. He lauds himself for creating an alternative fuel company (with no small assistance from the network he's accumulated in his previous career), then sells it for profit to an oil company, using the weak excuse of 'they were going to destroy it all, anyway'.

Finally, he seems upset with the U.S. imperialism, yet is blinded by the myth that it was ever otherwise, that the break from England was a moral good, as opposed to a decision to determine and control their own taxation levels and establish independent businesses.

It will impress those who are anti-capitalist, but not those who are into complexity.

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