Perkins, a former chief economist at a Boston strategic-consulting firm, confesses he was an 'economic hit man' for 10 years, helping U. Confessions of an Economic Hit Man. Fast Download speed and ads Free! Viii Confessions of an Economic Hit Man. Featuring 15 explosive new chapters, this new edition of the New York Times bestseller brings the story of Economic Hit Men up-to-date and, chillingly, home to the U.
EMBED for wordpress. Want more? Advanced embedding details, examples, and help! Confessions of an Economic Hit Man reveals a game that, according to John Perkins, is "as old as Empire" but has taken on new and terrifying dimensions in an era of globalization. And Perkins should know. Over 40 percent of the book is new, including chapters identifying today's EHMs and a detailed chronology extensively documenting EHM activity since the first edition was published in Former economic hit man John Perkins shares new details about the ways he and others cheated countries around the globe out of trillions of dollars.
Then he reveals how the deadly EHM cancer he helped create has spread far more widely and deeply than ever in the US and everywhere else—to become the dominant system of business, government, and society today.
Finally, he gives an insider view of what we each can do to change it. Economic hit men are the shock troops of what Perkins calls the corporatocracy, a vast network of corporations, banks, colluding governments, and the rich and powerful people tied to them. If the EHMs can't maintain the corrupt status quo through nonviolent coercion, the jackal assassins swoop in. The heart of this book is a completely new section, over pages long, that exposes the fact that all the EHM and jackal tools—false economics, false promises, threats, bribes, extortion, debt, deception, coups, assassinations, unbridled military power—are used around the world today exponentially more than during the era Perkins exposed over a decade ago.
Perkins offers a detailed list of specific actions each of us can take to transform what he calls a failing Death Economy into a Life Economy that provides sustainable abundance for all. A former consultant to the U. He went on to become an "economic hit man" EHM , convincing developing countries to build huge infrastructure projects that put them perpetually in debt to the World Bank and other US-controlled institutions.
Although he sincerely believed this was the best model for economic development, he came to realize it was really a new form of colonialism. Returning to the Amazon, he saw the destructive impact of his EHM work. But he also was inspired by a previously uncontacted tribe that touched its jaguar by uniting with its enemies to defend its territory against invading oil and mining companies. For the first time, Perkins details how his experiences in the Amazon converted him from an EHM to a crusader for transforming our failing Death Economy that destroys its own resources and nature itself into a flourishing Life Economy that renews itself.
He provides a strategy for each of us to change our lives and defend our territory—the earth—against destructive policies and systems. Presents an expose of international corruption activities as reported by some of the world's top assassins, journalists, and activists, in a cautionary report that makes recommendations for safeguarding the world. Shuar shamans psychonavigate for the purposes of hunting and healing, while the Bugis, among the most renowned sailors of the world, use these techniques to navigate without the aid of charts and compasses.
Perkins explains how these techniques work and how the people of these indigenous cultures psychonavigate to both distant physical destinations and sources of inner wisdom.
Throughout history, psychonavigation has been practiced by highly creative minds such as Beethoven, Jung, and Einstein. He reveals how by attuning to the positive forces in nature and communicating with our inner guides we all can become psychonavigators, finding our way to wise decisions and developing innovative approaches to the challenges we face as individuals and a world community.
Deep in the rain forests and high in the Andes of Ecuador, native shamans teach the age-old technique of dream change, a tradition that has kept the cultures of the Otavalans, Salasacans, and Shuar alive despite centuries of conquest. John Perkins tells the story of these remarkable shamans and of the U. These shamanic teachings have sparked a revolution in modern concepts about healing, the subconscious, and the powers each of us has to alter individual and communal reality.
This complete summary of John Perkins's book "Confessions of an Economic Hit Man" reveals how economic projections were invented in order to convince other countries to accept important loans for infrastructure and development which they couldn't afford.
In his book, the author provides evidence from interviews with officials and reveals the truth. Takes aim at the current global economic crisis and attempts to clear a path out of the rubble by providing a plan for remaking the economic markets. Shelves: history , wealth-and-power-inequality , american-imperialism , the-problem-of-civilization , non-fiction , auto-biography. I find it kind of surprising and disappointing that so many of the reviewers here have rated the book so poorly, and more importantly that they have done so not only for purely legitimate reasons that they think Perkins is a poor writer; I disagree, but if they think so, they ought to rate accordingly but because they accuse him of being a "conspiracy theorist.
I wish it we I find it kind of surprising and disappointing that so many of the reviewers here have rated the book so poorly, and more importantly that they have done so not only for purely legitimate reasons that they think Perkins is a poor writer; I disagree, but if they think so, they ought to rate accordingly but because they accuse him of being a "conspiracy theorist.
I wish it were so simple. Members of a conspiracy can be rooted out and brought to justice. This system, however, is fueled by something far more dangerous than conspiracy.
It is driven not by a small band of men but by a concept that has become accepted as gospel: the idea that all economic growth benefits humankind and that the greater the growth, the more widespread the benefits. This belief also has a corollary: that those people who excel at stoking the fires of economic growth should be exalted and rewarded, while those born at the fringes are available for exploitation. This is another problem some reviewers cite: that he overstates the extent the forces he cites really affect things.
Perkins explains that the Neo-liberal economics that justify globalization bear the same relation to the way economics really work that US government propaganda bears to the real reasons they are in Iraq reasons Perkins reveals perhaps more clearly than anyone I've read, again including Chomsky.
Perkins rehearses overtly many of the reasons and methods corporations use to increase their profits. These usually include exerting their influence on the government to earn or create contracts that funnel tax money into their own pockets - for example, foreign aid, or military spending. The aspect treated in Perkins' book is US and not only US, of course foreign policy as it is used to open and maintain markets in third-world countries, markets that allow corporations to strip the land of its wealth without losing profits to fairly treating the locals or worrying about the local environment.
Defiant governments of course are not always ideal themselves - though sometimes good exposes over emphasize a good guy-bad guy dynamic, it is really only about profits. As long as a foreign government lets corporations make money, they will be tolerated.
No matter how brutal they are. If they try to defy the corporations, no matter whether for the end of increasing the quality of life of their citizens or for their own gain Chavez vs.
Iraq , they will be opposed, discredited, undermined, or deposed by the US government. In Perkins' account, corporations are not evil. They merely do whatever they need to maximize profits.
And of course, that rarely includes fairly compensating workers or spending millions to reduce environmental impact. It often includes lobbying the government to reduce taxes and impose protectionist policies, spend more money on weapons, look the other way on environmental offenses, forge devastating "free trade" agreements with countries with cheap labor markets, and, when necessary, invade a country to maintain access to natural resources.
Read Confessions if you are interested to understand what is really going on in the world and why, if you want to know why foreign aid doesn't seem to accomplish anything. Read it if you want to know the truth. Confessions is particularly relevant today, as it will show you the true dynamics of Haiti's situation.
The governments providing aid are by no means altruistic, and they have profits, rather than the good of the Haitian people at heart. This is why aid efforts will ultimately result in Haiti's failure to recover from the earthquake and a slide into even more abject poverty.
Aug 10, Lars Guthrie rated it really liked it. I didn't want to like "Confessions," nor Perkins. It bothers me when people point to nefarious and secret conspiracies engineered by masterminds who control our lives; it means we have no responsibility or power. It bothers me when people "confess" to past crimes and urge reform when it works to their reputation and remuneration.
But I wanted to honor a coworker's recommendation and loan of the book, so I gave Perkins a chance. I was engrossed and even entranced by his facility with words and na I didn't want to like "Confessions," nor Perkins.
I was engrossed and even entranced by his facility with words and narrative structure, even though I still have reservations about his taking a moral high ground. The book offers an overview of world history over the past half century that affords a fresh perspective on American and corporate involvement in Latin America, Southeast Asia and the Middle East. I was particularly intrigued with Perkins's recounting of our handling of Panama, his sympathetic evaluation of Omar Torrijos as an independent Latin American leader, and his approval of the goals of Jimmy Carter's foreign policy.
And I will more carefully read news about Latin America where and when I can find it. Indeed, as indigenous Ecuadorians are presenting their strong case against Chevron in court, I can read the reports with enlarged understanding, thanks to Perkins. Nov 04, fourtriplezed rated it did not like it Shelves: my-non-fiction.
Lightweight and dull. Shelves: , general-non-fiction. WARNING: This review is opinionated, political, long and probably somewhat naive because of my rudimentary understanding of international economics, CIA covert operations, and the effect of seductive blondes on susceptible males. It took me quite a while to finish this book. And I basically agree with the basic concept that Perkins proposes to the American government and businesses: stop being an imperial power and take unfair advantage of developing countries.
Aside from the quality of the writing, I would like to comment on certain contentions made by the author, as follows. In my former line of work, during the twilight years of the Suharto era in Indonesia, I happened to have the dubious honor of witnessing such deals first hand. There were grossly overpriced power plants financed by a consortium of foreign lenders that the state electricity company must buy power from at an astronomical rate compared to virtually anywhere in the rest of the world, not to mention a developing country such as ours.
Certain contracts were convoluted by design to obscure features that might raise certain issues in relation to the FCPA 1. Others involved paper companies that did nothing other than serving as cash conduits for various well-connected rent-seekers. The plain fact is that it was not possible for any company, MNCs or otherwise, to be involved in these kind of projects without giving some sort of kickback to the powers that be.
But was there a vast, shadowy Corporatocracy behind these activities? Sure, some of these MNCs bribed their way into the job: there really was no other way to do it if you wanted to get a piece of the pie.
But they also compete against each other, instead of conspiring with each other. But again, is this not an effect of unfortunate, conflict-of-interest ridden concurrence rather than a deliberate, sustained US government program to undermine developing countries? Economic development benefits only a few wealthy families in a developing country. A power plant that causes the state electricity company to charge exorbitant rates to its consumers is nothing but an odious burden to the people.
And so is a highway that is financed with crippling foreign debt. But infrastructure projects that are sustainably financed and built are vital to developing nations. And yes, economic development is desperately needed to feed their people, hundreds of millions of mostly uneducated, unskilled people who cannot depend on traditional livelihoods anymore. It is patronizing and unrealistic to say that people in developing nations should just remain in the backwater because economic development is inherently bad.
Aside from certain indigenous people who are content to live traditional lives in their jungle abodes, the majority of people in developing countries want the same things that people in the First World do. We want reliable electricity supply at reasonable rates. We want modern transportation systems that enable us to move around with ease and safety. We want roads that are not potholed and turn into mud in the wet season. We want decent hospitals and schools.
We want modern drainage systems that can properly rid of our cities of raw sewage and monsoon flooding. We want cars and computers and comfortable homes. And we cannot get any of these without economic development or foreign loans. Why not, if the terms are acceptable and the interest rate reasonable? Xenophobia and isolation from the global economy is not the answer. All sort of things go wrong in developing countries and not all of these are caused by the Corporatocracy. So I think the answer is to plug in into the prevailing economic system, negotiate an acceptable term for such participation and if possible, beat the West at its own game.
China, South Korea, Singapore and Japan did. Islamist terrorism is caused by American imperialism and economic exploitation by the corporatocracy. The Islamists surely have plenty of grievances arising from the current situation in the Middle East. But like Christian fundamentalists in the West, the Islamists are also motivated by identity politics and religious chauvinism.
In many cases, their violence is not aimed toward the West, but toward those whom they consider to be kaffir or infidels. This designation applies to non-Muslims as well as Muslims who do not share their ideology. This is garden variety fanaticism, not an anti-imperialist movement.
Ok, so as I finished reading this book, I can say I successfully landed on 3 main conclusions! Yet, before I share them, let me brief you on what this book talks about. Interestingly enough and as the title suggests, Confessions of an Economic Hit Man is a real-life story of a person who played a role in reinforcing and mushrooming the system of marching into a global empire of America.
Nonetheless, trapped in consciousness, guilt and willingness to save the next generations-as he puts it-Perkins Ok, so as I finished reading this book, I can say I successfully landed on 3 main conclusions! Nonetheless, trapped in consciousness, guilt and willingness to save the next generations-as he puts it-Perkins chooses to unveil the truth that many are not aware of. Economic Hit Man refers to the unofficial title a number of economists who work for big-shots American corporations, and whose role is considered to be double agents for both those commercial corporations and the U.
S Administration and specifically the CIA. The job of those EHMs is to make overestimated-yet-scientifically-proved economic forecasts and statistics to convince 3rd world countries to start investing in their resources and lunch national projects. Those EHMs work for huge American corps. Of course with the help of-again-with the U. S which leaves its —usually corrupt- government to be an official puppet of the U. S allowing the American imperialism to expand further.
Such an imperialism would be reflected in U. S military installations that exist everywhere, controling UN votes and many more that result in controlling world economic and political system! Additionally, Perkins condemns and blames the capitalistic increasing approach-promoted mainly by U. S- which does nothing but leaves the rich much richer and the poor way much poorer; a system that successfuly creates a new form of slavery.
This is a rough idea about what was the major talking of this book; of course the story has many more dimensions. Now whether the concept of EHM truly exists or not, whether the author was truthful in what he has said or not, any one pays a close attention to the U. And no! S and its puppet governments elsewhere. The book is a very interesting read and brings lots of interesting issues and events to the table although reliability sometimes might be questionable. I personally share his views in this regard.
Con 1 : the book is very inspirational read to rebel against corruptive systems and say NO even if those systems are the hands that feed you. Fighting for freedom, equality and humane living is way much worthy than the rewards-or the so-called ones- gotten from turning a blind eye to or serving those corrupts.
Humanitarian aids and support..!! The thing is: everyone has his owns hidden agenda that suits his own interests.
So, sorry to break the news to you but no one serves the other for the apple of his eyes! Con 3 : many 3rd world countries had its blood soaked up by the U. S because those countries lacked the needed knowledge, technologies, industrial capabilities.. S has it. So no wonder such countries would be trapped in the U. S modern empire as they needed to progress and modernize. Jul 12, Darran Mclaughlin rated it really liked it Shelves: economics , american , politics , biography , espionage , thriller , travel.
John Perkins lifts the lid on the workings of what I am convinced is the American Empire. Perkins worked as an 'Economic Hit Man' for years pursuing the coordinated interests of the American State and Corporate sector. This involved visiting 3rd world countries, performing an inflated economic assessment of their future growth prospects, persuading them to take out enormous loans they will never be able to afford to repay to pay American companies to build massive infrastructure projects that wo John Perkins lifts the lid on the workings of what I am convinced is the American Empire.
This involved visiting 3rd world countries, performing an inflated economic assessment of their future growth prospects, persuading them to take out enormous loans they will never be able to afford to repay to pay American companies to build massive infrastructure projects that won't deliver the promised results.
The local elites and politicians get rich, the American corporations get rich, the poor get trampled over and then get left footing the bill for the loans they had nothing to do with taking and which they receive no benefit from. When they inevitably cannot afford to repay the loan they become the pawns of the American state, who can then force them to vote their way at the UN, or accept American military bases on their soil, or get them to imprison and torture their enemies.
Everything I have read about Iraq supports what this book has to say, and it also resonates for me because I've been reading a lot about the Roman Empire recently and it sounds an awful lot like what they did in their day.
This book also put me in mind of The Names by Don Delillo, which explored similar themes in , over 20 years before this was published because he's a brilliant and prescient genius , The Reluctant Fundamentalist by Mohson Hamid, and the work of Graham Greene who makes an appearance in the book when the author meets him in Panama.
Nov 22, HBalikov rated it liked it. Perkins enlightens us on how he and others on behalf of large corporations and the United States government have worked a gigantic confidence game on many of the world's developing nations.
Their actions have encouraged oligarchy and stifled democracy on most continents and bode ill for the future. The con involves: finding the particular need for improvement of quality of life more employment, rural electrification, markets for agricultural products, etc.
Then, repeat in another location. After expounding on this premise, Perkins takes us through many a "con" that he was part of. The variations are less interesting as time goes on and the pattern becomes morally burdensome. One of the chapters that I found m most interesting was about big oil and the rain forests in Ecuador. I was familiar with the court case litigating the damages done by Chevron during the exploration and production of oil and Perkins alleges much that was not proved in that case.
What caught my interest was that this marked a moral turning point for him and that, as he interacted with locals from the remote jungle towns, he found native peoples more conversant on world events than the majority of Americans. Even if the prose is at times over the top, reading these Confessions should serve as a foundation for an interesting and, with luck, productive discussion.
Jun 05, Hannah To rated it did not like it. Jan 18, Anno Nomius rated it really liked it. I don't normally read biographies however this one was different. The author is interesting as he is an economic hit man.
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