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Confessions of an Economic Hit Man: The shocking story of how America really took over the world [Paperback]

John Perkins
4.0 out of 5 stars  See all reviews (81 customer reviews)
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Book Description

2 Feb 2006

As an Economic Hitman (EHM), John Perkins helped further American imperial interests in countries such as Ecuador, Panama, Indonesia and Saudi Arabia. As Chief Economist for the international consulting firm Chas. T. Main, he convinced underdeveloped countries to accept massive loans for infrastructure development and ensured that the projects were contracted to multinational corporations. The countries acquired enormous debt, and the US and international aid agencies were able to control their economies.

He tried to write this book four times but was threatened or bribed each time to halt. The events of 9/11 - a direct result of the activities of EHMs in the 1970s - finally forced him to confront the role he played himself, and to reveal the truth to the rest of the world.

Confessions of an Economic Hit Man has become a word-of-mouth bestseller in the US. It has been called the book that finally 'connects the dots, the book that best explains what is really going on in the world'.


Frequently Bought Together

Confessions of an Economic Hit Man: The shocking story of how America really took over the world + Hoodwinked: An Economic Hit Man Reveals Why the World Financial Markets Imploded + The Secret History of the American Empire: The Truth about Economic Hit Men, Jackals, and How to Change the World
Price For All Three: £23.08

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Product details

  • Paperback: 272 pages
  • Publisher: Ebury Press; New Ed edition (2 Feb 2006)
  • Language: English
  • ISBN-10: 0091909104
  • ISBN-13: 978-0091909109
  • Product Dimensions: 12.9 x 20 cm
  • Average Customer Review: 4.0 out of 5 stars  See all reviews (81 customer reviews)
  • Amazon Bestsellers Rank: 9,398 in Books (See Top 100 in Books)

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Review

"An entirely riveting and vital expose of the immoral, underhand dealings of the American corporatocracy - *****" (Independent on Sunday 2006-02-12)

"It's all here, in toe-curling detail" (Guardian Weekend 2006-01-28)

"One of the most remarkable books I have read in a long time. It is also one of the most frightening ... Perkins' aim is to expose the empire in order to dismantle it. He got out, he emphasises - and the wider world can get out too. We can disband the empire, but only if we know how it really functions. There are few better paces to find out" (New Statesman)

"Once you've absorbed the book's central message, it makes the news look rather different" (Nicholas Lezard Guardian)

"Perkins has ripped open the belly of the financial buccaneers from his unique place on the inside. Here are the real-life details - nasty, manipulative, plain evil - of international corporate skullduggery spun into a tale rivaling the darkest espionage thriller" (Greg Palast, Author Of The Best Democracy Money Can Buy)

Book Description

The word-of-mouth bestseller that has swept America - A true insider reveals the shocking inner workings of America's global imperialism

Inside This Book (Learn More)
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Front Cover | Copyright | Table of Contents | Excerpt | Index | Back Cover
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Customer Reviews

Most Helpful Customer Reviews
51 of 57 people found the following review helpful
Format:Paperback
Brilliant, in an odd kind of way! The paradox of this book is that it often reads like an unbelievable and corny spy thriller, while simultaneously dealing with probably the most real and important issues facing humanity and the planet today. I am sure the author is well aware of this - a more academic, or more "credible" account would have reached far fewer people. Regardless of how much artistic license John Perkins may have used, the essence of this book has a sobering ring of truth about it.

Perkins takes us through his autobiographical account of life as an economic hit-man or EHM. "We are an elite group of men and women who utilize financial organizations to foment conditions that make other nations subservient to the corporatocracy running our biggest corporations, our government, and our banks." From 1971 to 1980, this found him working in developing countries (eg. Saudi Arabia, Ecuador, Panama), subtley and not-so-subtley building the global American Empire. The real-life politics is interesting.

Perkins eventually quit his job, finally finding the greed and hypocrisy too difficult to deal with. This was partly a result of getting to know the natives of each country he worked in and his social life makes entertaining reading. Although he left the EHM job in 1980, it took the events of September 11th 2001 to finally inspire him to come completely clean and publish this book.

The epilogue is a nice little wake-up call in itself.
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27 of 30 people found the following review helpful
Format:Paperback
This book is so eager to unmask the imperial project of the last 35 years that it has prompted USINFO.STATE.GOV to put up a page about it in its 'Identifying Misinformation archive'. So far, so good.

Much of what the book says about the shared imperial aspirations of state and business flows logically, with a capitalist eye for self-interest, profit and market dominance. Therefore, the author's frequent early references to feeling guilty about his deeds does tend to sensationalize his role in an approach to money-making which is still current - in occupied Iraq, for example.

For me, the book really comes alive when Perkins recounts the sights, sounds and smells of Indonesia - his first destination as an economic hit man. Perkins writes very well here and draws you into his world. I actually finished the 225 page story in a day, but frequent breaks in the narrative do break its intimacy. That said, this book is full of little-reported insights, personalities and acts from history which crystallize a truth. Government, military and intelligence services serve the interests of big business and profit.

Who benefits from this deceit? Well, there in lies the dilemma; arguably most Western citizens... through cheap oil.

'For every $100 of crude taken out of the Ecuadorian rain forests, the oil companies receive $75. Of the remaining $25, three-quarters must go to paying off the foreign debt. Most of the remainder covers military and other government expenses - which leaves about $2.50 for healfth, education and prgrams aimed at helping the poor.'

Confessions of an Economic Hit Man
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26 of 29 people found the following review helpful
Format:Paperback
John Perkins is a man obviously tortured by his part in the erection of a financial empire he identifies as American. Whilst this is a trifle simplistic one can excuse the author this gaffe simply because it is not his intent to explain the workings of our economic and monetary system but rather to explain his own part in it. His humility and willingness to look at his own failings as an impressionable and ego-driven young man are commendable, as is his courage in writing a book which was always guaranteed to be controversial.

As someone who knows how our economy (such as it is!) truly works, being fully conversant with the workings of fractional reserve banking and the whole house of cards built upon it, as well as being aware of the real workings of the World Bank, BIS and similar organisations, I find Perkins' account all too depressingly believable: the thought that otherwise well-meaning but similarly young, impressionable and ego-driven people of today are furthering this empire, believing they are doing good in the process, is disturbing to say the least.
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3 of 3 people found the following review helpful
4.0 out of 5 stars Confessions of an Economic Hit Man 11 July 2009
Format:Paperback
This book opens your eyes as to what goes on behind the scenes whenever governments are concerned.
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3 of 3 people found the following review helpful
5.0 out of 5 stars Fantastic Book 21 Jun 2009
Format:Paperback
This is definitely one of my favorite books. I love authors who take seemingly complicated topics, world economy in this case, and simplify it for the reader.

Definitely pick this up if you want to see how the US controls third world countries.
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3 of 3 people found the following review helpful
4.0 out of 5 stars Almost certainly a true acount 19 Oct 2008
Format:Paperback
Perkins has probably made alot of money from this book as it is written in the first person narrative style of an autobiography, and as such draws the reader in and carries him/her along with the "storyline"
Even if some of the accounts in the book are exaggerated (and I have no reason to say that they are), there is so much personal and historical information in this account of Perkins life, that it could easily have been disproved were it not largely truthfull....to my knowledge, he has not been discredited yet, and so we must assume that it is largely true.
I thought this book was rather brilliant actually, and is ideal for anybody who has misgivings, but has not really ever thought about or faced up to the nature of big corporate exploitation of developing countries, the globalization of the world and ...and this is the big one...the consequences for us (the western capitalists), if we continue as we are....we have got it coming to us...big time !! if we carrty on the way we are going
Read it, its a good book that deals with some big issues.... I shall read his follow on book next "the secret history of the American Empire"
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Most Recent Customer Reviews
2.0 out of 5 stars More hype than content.
Nothing like I was told to expect. A bit of an anti-climax.

Not worth the money at all.

A bit fantastic at time!
Published 6 days ago by Joiner
5.0 out of 5 stars Brilliant
wow. what a rollercoaster. Great book, full of insight into a topic/world that is quite unknown to regular people. A good interesting no holds barred read. Would recommend.
Published 1 month ago by Jen Butler
5.0 out of 5 stars One of the best books I have ever come across...
An amazing inside story about the true string pullers of the western world.
If your open minded and have a basic understanding of how the world (really) works, this book will... Read more
Published 1 month ago by Pete
2.0 out of 5 stars And the confessions that are still outstanding...
I first read this book not long after its publication in 2004. Perkins certainly plays to the liberal "home-town" crowd, telling us what we wanted to hear. Read more
Published 1 month ago by John P. Jones III
5.0 out of 5 stars Confirmation of an open secret
Great book. Explains many things and confirms many corrupt practices that have caused much pain and suffering around the world.
Published 1 month ago by Mo
5.0 out of 5 stars well worth reading
This book is an easy to read account of how American corporations pushed through the US imperial agenda in the undeveloped world. Read more
Published 2 months ago by c stevenson
3.0 out of 5 stars Good book but could have been half the length
This is a good ( ish ) book but is filled with to much of the writer talking himself up. I also found it somewhat irritating he kept writing about his guilt but did nothing about... Read more
Published 2 months ago by scott
4.0 out of 5 stars America is killing the rest of the world
An eye opener to common person the cruelty & inhumanity of banks & the financial markets exploitation. Descriptions are vivid.
Published 2 months ago by Dr.D.K.Mallick
5.0 out of 5 stars excellent
This book made me aware of the reasons why debts of third word countries come about. After reading the book I am definitely better informed and a lot more dismayed.
Published 3 months ago by Anna Clemente
5.0 out of 5 stars something everyone should know
well written, fascinating, shocking. this is about what one has suspected for a long time, but really needs to know
Published 3 months ago by W. M. Hartwig-compton
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