Confessions of an Economic Hit Man
by: John Perkins
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Amazon.com Review:
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
Product Description:
With new material from the author
"Economic hit men," John Perkins writes," are highly paid professionals who cheat countries around the globe out of trillions of dollars. Their tools include fraudulent financial reports, rigged elections, payoffs, extortion, sex, and murder. They play a game as old as Empire but one that has taken on terrifying dimensions during this time of globalization." John Perkins should know-he was an economic hit man for an international consulting firm that worked to convince developing countries to accept enormous loans and to funnel that money to U.S. corporations. Once these countries were saddled with huge debts, the American government and international aid agencies were able to request their "pound of flesh" in favors, including access to natural resources, military cooperation, and political support. Confessions of an Economic Hit Man is the story of one man's experiences inside the intrigue, greed, corruption and little-known government and corporate activities that America has been involved in since World War II, and which have dire consequences for the future of democracy and the world.
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
Product Description:
With new material from the author
"Economic hit men," John Perkins writes," are highly paid professionals who cheat countries around the globe out of trillions of dollars. Their tools include fraudulent financial reports, rigged elections, payoffs, extortion, sex, and murder. They play a game as old as Empire but one that has taken on terrifying dimensions during this time of globalization." John Perkins should know-he was an economic hit man for an international consulting firm that worked to convince developing countries to accept enormous loans and to funnel that money to U.S. corporations. Once these countries were saddled with huge debts, the American government and international aid agencies were able to request their "pound of flesh" in favors, including access to natural resources, military cooperation, and political support. Confessions of an Economic Hit Man is the story of one man's experiences inside the intrigue, greed, corruption and little-known government and corporate activities that America has been involved in since World War II, and which have dire consequences for the future of democracy and the world.
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Customer Reviews
Average Rating:
Rating: 
- Boring ego trip
Much of the economic premise of this book is obviously true.However, now it is presented as a personal reflection on a participants life.It feels like fiction and it probably is.In short, he is stealing from the poor and giving to the rich and continuously feels guilty about it, but still confinues this for decades.
Why?He is a victim himself.As a youngster he was profiled by the NSA and they exploit their knowlegde of his weaknesses, to make him do these bad things!
Read More
Rating: - Confessions of a Fantasist?
I grew up squarely in the center of the American economic imperialism of the 60s and 70s that this book seeks to expose and can only say that I find the author's effort terribly disappointing.Some mysterious woman appears early on to recruit him as an "economic hitman", never to appear again;conspiracies seem to be hatched but one lacks all detail about the conspirators; dots just don't connect.It is very hard not to come to the conclusion that the author was just a garden variety cog in the ... Read More
Rating: - Terrible Stuff
Here's one of the best lines from this book: "As chief economist, I was not only in charge of a department at MAIN and responsible for the studies we carried out around the globe, but I was also expected to be conversant with current economic trends and theories." (P. 87, paperback edition) You don't say!
Mr. Perkins is a strict adherent to the George Costanza maxim of "Remember, it's not a lie if you believe it." He writes like a tenth grader blazing through a term paper the night before ... Read More
Rating: 
- Global Empire through a far more subtle manner
Confessions of an Economic Hit Man takes an in depth view of America's history and consequently world history. Perkins ties our economic agenda into the machine consisting of government, corporations, and banks, demonstrating how imperialism is stronger and more present than ever, but has taken on a far more subtle approach. He indulges into his corporate role as an economist who helped take over foreign governments through fallacious economic projections resulting in amounts of debt equivalent to enslavement. ... Read More
Rating: 
- Horribly slow
The book was good. In nice condition and everything, but it took forever to ship. I needed it and ordered it two weeks in advance, and it got here after my we were supposed to have read the first two parts (three weeks after I ordered it), so needless to say, I had to go out and buy one from Waldenbooks before this one arrived. Three weeks to send a book is insane.
- Boring ego tripMuch of the economic premise of this book is obviously true.However, now it is presented as a personal reflection on a participants life.It feels like fiction and it probably is.In short, he is stealing from the poor and giving to the rich and continuously feels guilty about it, but still confinues this for decades.
Why?He is a victim himself.As a youngster he was profiled by the NSA and they exploit their knowlegde of his weaknesses, to make him do these bad things!
Read More
- Confessions of a Fantasist?I grew up squarely in the center of the American economic imperialism of the 60s and 70s that this book seeks to expose and can only say that I find the author's effort terribly disappointing.Some mysterious woman appears early on to recruit him as an "economic hitman", never to appear again;conspiracies seem to be hatched but one lacks all detail about the conspirators; dots just don't connect.It is very hard not to come to the conclusion that the author was just a garden variety cog in the ... Read More
- Terrible StuffHere's one of the best lines from this book: "As chief economist, I was not only in charge of a department at MAIN and responsible for the studies we carried out around the globe, but I was also expected to be conversant with current economic trends and theories." (P. 87, paperback edition) You don't say!
Mr. Perkins is a strict adherent to the George Costanza maxim of "Remember, it's not a lie if you believe it." He writes like a tenth grader blazing through a term paper the night before ... Read More
- Global Empire through a far more subtle mannerConfessions of an Economic Hit Man takes an in depth view of America's history and consequently world history. Perkins ties our economic agenda into the machine consisting of government, corporations, and banks, demonstrating how imperialism is stronger and more present than ever, but has taken on a far more subtle approach. He indulges into his corporate role as an economist who helped take over foreign governments through fallacious economic projections resulting in amounts of debt equivalent to enslavement. ... Read More
- Horribly slowThe book was good. In nice condition and everything, but it took forever to ship. I needed it and ordered it two weeks in advance, and it got here after my we were supposed to have read the first two parts (three weeks after I ordered it), so needless to say, I had to go out and buy one from Waldenbooks before this one arrived. Three weeks to send a book is insane.
