Customer Reviews

Confessions of an Economic Hit Man

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1 star:		(4)

 

 

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.

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.

Let me say that I am one of those people who has always had an inkling that there is some king of para-diplomatic structure which channels information to third word governments. International politics is quite dirty, and you just have to look at the obviously bought UN votes (eg the resolution authorising the 1991 Gulf War), military base concessions and the like to see that not all communication between governments is above board and carried out in the open. I therefore came to this book with a lot of enthusiasm.

This book takes the form of a confessional autobiography, as the title suggests. Perkins is deeply ashamed of the life he led before quitting the corporate sector. He tries to contextualise this within a brief outline of his general life story, born into an impoverished family nonetheless part of some kind of social elite. So at a human level the account of his career moves and motives is interesting.

But you're not going to read this book as a human interest story. The main point obviously is the structure of corporate power. This is where his narrative starts to fill up with holes. The basic story is that he was employed by a private corporation specialising in providing infrastructure services to "developing" countries. He claims that this was essentially a front for imperialist policy imposed by the USA, through which money is used to draw countries into the America camp.

This can happen in either of two ways. For a poor country, vast loans are granted on the assumption (created by the like of Perkins) that they will trigger of very high rates of economic growth. When this growth does not occur countries pile up the debt, default and hence become beholden to their loan shark (i.e. the IMF, international banks, and the American led capitalist sytsem in general). [ps, for a more detailed account of this dynamic, see Chossudovsky, "The Globalisation of Poverty"] For richer countries (normamlly due to oil), there is the opposite problem: they have too much cash. Thus the economic hit man draws up programmes for the investment of this cash in schemes which benefit the USA. For example, Saudi Arabia invests in US treasury certificates (i.e. the American national debt), then uses the interest to pay American firms to develop Saudi Arabia. The Americans get lots of business and profits, whilst the Saudis get development, a steady return on capital and a protected investment. Perkins argues that long term needs for servicing and upgrading futther tie in the Saudis to this system.

Fair enough. But what is the difference between a private company touting for business and a broader government-led conspiracy. Unless Perkins can establish the latter he is ultimately going to look like some kind of Walter Mitty character.

He claims evidence for this link on the basis that he was referred to the private sector by the NSA, which was considering his recruitment (due to family connections in the intelligence services). He then says that after recruitment, a certain "Claudine", in a series of clandestine meetings at a safe house, inducted him into the EHM strategy. Basically she told him that his job was not to guarantee development of third world countries, but to break them with high debts. After this cloak and dagger beginning, Claudine then disappears from the scene. However, if the positive development of third world nations would eventually create indigenous industries, this would then avoid the need for further American consultants in those countries. Plus there would be more competition on the global market for other countries in need of developmental assistance. Therefore, Perkins strategy of saddling countries with debts also works in the interst of his own company. (Whilst his argument appears to be that a policy driven by such an insane economic logic could only be driven by broader governmental (of imperial) policy considerations.)

In the end therefore, Perkins' story is only of any interest if he can demonstrate this link with government. It appears that he does not do that. His references to various coups and assassinations do point to some darker forces at work, but it is all presented as innuendo.

And consider this: surely someone of his undoubted economic expertise would be able to set out in some greater detail the mechanics of the transactions he was involved in, and what made them special when compared to normal commercial transactions. The lack of particular detail on this point is a bit suspicious. The book may not be aimed at an academic audience, but the way he sets up his argument - plus the lack of real substantial evidence on the US government's involvement - calls for more detail which is simply not there.

The book is very light reading, I read it all in one day on a 6 hour train journey. Only really recommended for people who don't really have much background in international politics.

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

A book that everyone should be made to read and understand before they be allowed to vote for a politician from any party. It is only then that we may stop these monsters and start to solve the worlds problems.

This claims to be a whistle blowing autobiography. It has become a best seller in the USA. If true, its content is explosive.

The Author claims that in 1971, after Peace Corps work in Ecuador, he was recruited by the NSA to work undercover as an economist in a private firm of international engineering consultants (Chas T. Main Inc.) His recruiter/trainer "told me that there were two primary objectives of my work. First, I was to justify huge international loans that would funnel money back ..to US companies .. through massive engineering and construction projects. Second, I would work to bankrupt the countries that received those loans so that they would be forever beholden to their creditors.."

He goes on to write about his involvement in the application of these deliberate policies to subjugate Indonesia, Panama, Saudi Arabia, Iran, Ecuador, etc. In Indonesia's case he details how he produced a plan to finance electrical infrastructure that would enable a 19% growth rate when he knew that realistically the requirement was for a maximum of 5%. The US printed the dollars, the US controlled, international financial agencies lent the money. The vast proportion of the money went to the Bechtels and Halliburtons. Some of the money greased the palms of the developing countries' ruling elites. The huge mass of the populations received no benefit. They remain mired in perpetual poverty (and corporate pollution) as their nations struggle to keep up with the interest payments. Where leaders could not be suborned, as in the case of Torrijos of Panama or Roldos in Ecuador, they were eliminated and replaced with leaders more amenable to American interests.

It could be, and is argued by anti-globalisation campaigners, that this impoverishment of the developing world is a lamentable side-effect of American corporate "vigour." It is however a quantum leap to make the argument that this massive, global, humanitarian disaster, (resulting in premature deaths over the decades on a far greater scale than those resultant from Stalin's policies) is the intentional outcome of a policy of economic empire being deliberately pursued by decision-maker factions within successive American administrations.

The key question is whether or not the author is writing a true report of events he participated in. Though supported by ten pages of references, the book is written in a fairly lightweight, populist style. This choice of style will not give much comfort to academic readers. It could, though support the author's claim that he is writing to gain maximum public traction for his arguments for a change in US policy towards developing countries and the environment. Descriptions of the author's going through the culture barrier and losing confidence in the vision of "his country right or wrong," ring true to a reader who once found himself in a mildly analogous situation. The facts quoted that lend themselves to relatively simple verification (such as the author meeting Graham Greene in Panama City - the dates check out) appear accurate.

Perkins claims that the US invaded Iraq because Saddam refused to succumb to the same inducements successfully offered to the Saudi royal family for US control over their economy in return for protection. An indication of the possible truth or otherwise of Perkin's claims can be found in a reading of the commercial legislation passed by the Coalition Provisional Authority in Iraq and which in effect handed over the Iraqi economy to the American corporates, (Orders #12, #17, #39, #40 being particularly relevant.) These early pieces of legislation would indicate that the USA, on taking control of its new conquest, though not prepared for fighting an insurgency, was fully prepared for a take over of the Iraqi economy.

This book opens your eyes as to what goes on behind the scenes whenever governments are concerned.

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.

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"

I am not sure what to make of this book. I read through it and found that I was at all times interested in the subject matter.

The thing is - the book only helped me put things into perspective, with regard to dates and names. The book did not really help enlighten me or give me a new perspective on the way the world operates.

Hence the title of my review. If you are one of those people who goes through life blithely and has no idea why western nations are distrusted or even hated in the developing world - read this book.

If you have actually been awake for the past few decades and understand that capatilism is not necessarily the best model - rather, it is the model that is the best financed [is there a paradox there?], you will find that this book gives you nothing new.

The book has a sentence that advises the reader of the fact the information in the book may be out of date by the time the reader finishes reading the book. This is my issue with the book.

Who really did not know that the Iraq wars [both] were for reasons other than world peace? Who really has never seen the connection between politics and corporations? Who really was surprised that the US government divided up the "rebuilding Iraq" contracts between US contractors?

Maybe it is because we live in the Michael Moore era, maybe it is because I live in Europe, where we are more inclined to ask questions and where criticism of the head of state are not consider unpatriotic. Who knows? What I do know is that this book does not tell you anything new.

What the book does do is make for an interesting biography.

The author does not really deserve any applause for his convenient turn away from corruption - as he managed to spend decades continuing his ways, making money, long before he decided to spill his confession.

What would impress me more would be if I found out that all proceeds from the sale of this book went towards some sort of third world relief.

3-stars. An interesting read.