Confessions of An Economic Hit Man – John Perkins
Confessions of An Economic Hit Man – John Perkins, Berrett-Koehler Publishing, Inc. (2004) 250pp. (S) ***
Like Philip Agee (Inside the Company), Victor Ostrovsky (By Way of Deception), and Robert Baer (See No Evil, Sleeping With The Devil) before him, John Perkins, as a former insider, has decided to spill the beans in a memoir of his own. Perkins has traveled to many parts of the world (Ecuador, Indonesia, Iran) as a self-professed “Economic Hit Man” (known as an EHM in the industry), giving him a view to the common themes of economic exploitation in the service of empire that permeate and afflict each country. While a more commonly known and understood “hit man” would wield a gun as his favored tool (persons Perkins designates as “jackals”), the economic hit man carries a brief case with documents and a calculator to help produce the inflated numbers that over-optimistic – some would say, avaricious – development firms are so eager to chomp on. This was Perkins specific role, to supply the numbers that projected wildly over-rated future growth projections, because that is what his superiors wanted to see. These numbers would then be used as the foundation for mammoth investment programs and infrastructure projects, all financed by borrowed monies at usurious rates that were sure to keep the target countries in a state of indefinite indebtedness for years to come. It is from just such a weakened position, that the U.S. would then be able to get economically advantageous concessions, be it rapacious access to raw resources or more favorable business conditions for U.S. multinationals.
Ten years into such a life, Perkins’ conscience eats away at him, so that he begins to make a gradual break from the industry he believes to be so corrosive to life on the planet. Even though Perkins’ profession is in economics, readers will be pleased to know that Perkins’ style is easy to read, unencumbered with technical jargon, perhaps even to a fault. Perkins’ book is more about a man’s struggle with his afflicted conscience, than a brass tacks expose of his less than savory trade – so much so that the text often becomes needlessly redundant. Nonetheless, Perkins must be given his due for breaking the sound barrier and bringing the subject of international, extortive economics and its unpleasant underside, to the fore.
Like Philip Agee (Inside the Company), Victor Ostrovsky (By Way of Deception), and Robert Baer (See No Evil, Sleeping With The Devil) before him, John Perkins, as a former insider, has decided to spill the beans in a memoir of his own. Perkins has traveled to many parts of the world (Ecuador, Indonesia, Iran) as a self-professed “Economic Hit Man” (known as an EHM in the industry), giving him a view to the common themes of economic exploitation in the service of empire that permeate and afflict each country. While a more commonly known and understood “hit man” would wield a gun as his favored tool (persons Perkins designates as “jackals”), the economic hit man carries a brief case with documents and a calculator to help produce the inflated numbers that over-optimistic – some would say, avaricious – development firms are so eager to chomp on. This was Perkins specific role, to supply the numbers that projected wildly over-rated future growth projections, because that is what his superiors wanted to see. These numbers would then be used as the foundation for mammoth investment programs and infrastructure projects, all financed by borrowed monies at usurious rates that were sure to keep the target countries in a state of indefinite indebtedness for years to come. It is from just such a weakened position, that the U.S. would then be able to get economically advantageous concessions, be it rapacious access to raw resources or more favorable business conditions for U.S. multinationals.
Ten years into such a life, Perkins’ conscience eats away at him, so that he begins to make a gradual break from the industry he believes to be so corrosive to life on the planet. Even though Perkins’ profession is in economics, readers will be pleased to know that Perkins’ style is easy to read, unencumbered with technical jargon, perhaps even to a fault. Perkins’ book is more about a man’s struggle with his afflicted conscience, than a brass tacks expose of his less than savory trade – so much so that the text often becomes needlessly redundant. Nonetheless, Perkins must be given his due for breaking the sound barrier and bringing the subject of international, extortive economics and its unpleasant underside, to the fore.
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