Avg. Customer Rating:(based on 644 reviews) Sales Rank: 1249 Category: Book
Author:John Perkins Publisher:Plume Studio:Plume Manufacturer:Plume Label:Plume Languages: English (Original Language), English (Unknown), English (Published) Media: Paperback Number Of Items: 1 Pages: 320 Shipping Weight (lbs): 1.3 Dimensions (in): 8 x 5.4 x 0.8
Product Description From the author of the phenomenal New York Times bestseller, Confessions of an Economic Hit Man, comes an expose of international corruption? and an inspired plan to turn the tide for future generations
With a presidential election around the corner, questions of America?s military buildup, environmental impact, and foreign policy are on everyone?s mind. Former ?Economic Hit Man? John Perkins goes behind the scenes of the current geopolitical crisis and offers bold solutions to our most pressing problems. Drawing on interviews with other EHMs, jackals, CIA operatives, reporters, businessmen, and activists, Perkins reveals the secret history of events that have created the current American Empire, including:
? How the ?defeats? in Vietnam and Iraq have benefited big business
? The role of Israel as ?Fortress America? in the Middle East
? Tragic repercussions of the IMF?s ?Asian Economic Collapse?
? The current Latin American revolution and its lessons for democracy
? U.S. blunders in Tibet, Congo, Lebanon, and Venezuela
From the U.S. military in Iraq to infrastructure development in Indonesia, from Peace Corps volunteers in Africa to jackals in Venezuela, Perkins exposes a conspiracy of corruption that has fueled instability and anti-Americanism around the globe, with consequences reflected in our daily headlines. Having raised the alarm, Perkins passionately addresses how Americans can work to create a more peaceful and stable world for future generations.
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 Carre, 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
Felt made up December 4, 2008 Just finished the book and have to say the author's stories seemed very contrived. While many historical facts are presented like the Iraq War or the Control of Panama Canal, the author's stories of meeting "local people" seem made up and don't provide any useful evidence to the reader beyond attempting to help the author's own conspiracy agenda. I was hoping for a lot more from this book, but it fails in so many ways, and believe this guy is in the same category as James Frey.
the truth... November 24, 2008 1 out of 2 found this review helpful
This is the most awe-inspiring, and provocative book that I've ever read. I've found myself between a couple pages thinking "how could they do that? Why?" This has further heightened my desire to research into the corporation, money, and the manipulation that our "system" relies on every day. Well worth the while. I've started reading his sequel, and it has exceeded my expectations with more info and more interviews and quotes from the hundreds of people that have come forth. Man, just buy it, borrow it, steal it... what ever you have to do to soak in the information that John has to offer. (Try not to steal it...)
Eye-opening November 23, 2008 1 out of 2 found this review helpful
For the people who want to know what is hidden behind the fact that America has become so strong over the years, this is the book to read. No conspiracy theories, no spy games, just pure imperialism in the worst manner. I always thought that economic development the Western way was what everyone would want in the world, but I never thought that not everyone is like us, not everyone cares about our materialistic world. And as much as they don't care about us we should not care about them and let them develop the way they want to develop.WATCH ZEITGEIST AND JOIN THE ZEITGEIST MOVEMENT.
The book I had to read, but then wanted to finish November 19, 2008 2 out of 3 found this review helpful
I think this is a great book. I had to read different chapters for a class, but I liked it so much I decided to read the whole book. The writing is simple to read and understand, and the message and information within the chapters is powerful and very interesting. Not too many people know about the seedy underside of multinational corporations. This book brings that to light in a way that is interesting.
Why was "Hitman" a hit? Here's how Perkins would read the negative reviews November 4, 2008 2 out of 5 found this review helpful
PRO: At the end of the book, he says you, the reader, are the reason the world is the way it is. After listening to his nonstop bashing of corporations and governments, I expected him to conclude with a final "coup de grace" on those two entities, but I was wrong! He puts the blame where it should be: all of us. We are those people in the corporations and the governments reflect what we want. If we want to blame someone, let's start with ourselves. I commend Perkins for saying that. "Any fool can criticise, and most fools do," said Andrew Carnegie. Those few paragraphs almost took the book to two stars. Unfortunately, the rest of it was terrible.
CONS: Many other reviewers will point out the myriad of flaws and shortcomings of this book. I'll illustrate how Perkins would read all these one star reviews. He would say:
- They're written by jackals, government officials, and corporate hitmen trying to discredit me. - They're people who are so naive that they don't understand how the real world works. They say this is a fantasy. It's no fantasy, baby, this was real life!
PSYCHOLOGICAL ASSESSMENT OF PERKINS: Perkins is a man filled with regret. He dreamed of living an exciting life, but ended up living just a mediocre one. For example:
- He wanted to go to Ivy League Schools, but went to a ho-hum schools.
- He wanted to be an executive, but he never got beyond middle management.
- He wanted to be a spy for the NSA, but all he got was an interview.
- He wanted to live a glamourous life, but he got all the pedestrian glamour of a typical international corporate job.
- He wanted babes, but he just got a divorce and a few flings.
In short, he feels like a failure. He's frustrated by that so he's decided to reinterpret his whole life, make it more exciting, boost his ego a bit by writing a book that makes his life seem more interesting than it was. He fills it with cloak and dagger intrigue, but there's really nothing there. It's obvious that it's all in his mind.
He depicts himself as an "insider," but offers scant interesting insider stuff. Most of his theories are backed by his daily news source: the NY Times.
His opinion that construction projects drive our economy and decisions is wrong. Foreign infrastructure projects make up less than 1% of the US government budget and not even 0.1% of our economy. Furthermore, he says that "very few" benefit from the new electricity plants we build in Ecuador or Indonesia. Really? So we build a multi-billion dollar plant to power three rich people's homes? Wrong. Thousands of poor people benefit from the roads and electricity plants. That's why they invite us there. Duh! Do we also benefit? Sure! We probably wouldn't do it otherwise! DUH!
The other irritation about this book is that he thinks he's making novel arguments, when they're usually obvious to all. For example, corporatations are self-interested. Wow. I never would have guessed that. Let's add: humans are self-interested. What do you expect Exxon to do? Sell oil for less than it costs them to make it? Do you expect the salesman of a construction firm to not try to get the best deal he can get for his company? Doesn't he want to get a bonus and send his children to a good college?
He whines about people working for a dollar a day in "sweatshops." Are we holding them at gunpoint? No. On the contrary, people in Asia work at Nike's factories to earn their $1 a day for two reasons:
1. It's better than getting 50 cents a day, which is what the local companies pay. Working for a foreign company is PRESTIGIOUS and coveted.
2. Their daily costs are 90 cents a day. Some love to focus on how little people in third world countries make, but they often forget how little it costs them to live. Imagine their conversations about us: "It costs $100/day to live in America. How do they do it? We're much better off here because it costs just 90 cents per day." There are two sides of the equation, Perkins.
CONCLUSION: There were only two reasons I listened to this misleading and overrated book till the end. First, my friend recommended it. Second, I was curious to see what SOLUTION he proposed. It's easy to complain. But what do you think we should do instead?
As I mentioned at the beginning, he places part of the blame on you and me. Great. Well said. Now what? He tells us to drive less. I bet he drives and flies much more than any of us because he's promoting his book. He tell us that we should have a more fair world. That we should have medical services available for all, information should be widespread, and that we should think of the consequences of our actions. Blah... blah.. blah... as you can see: no specifics. Why not? Because it's nobody would like to do what would need to be done. He's asking us to change human nature. Sorry, Perkins, it's ain't going to happen. And Perkins is proof that it won't happen because lives in a nice house, buys food from corporations, votes for the political establishment, doesn't send 50% of his income to third world countries, etc....
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