It took over twenty years to finish writing Confessions of an Economic Hit Man
This book is significant because it confirms that economic hit men do exist and this gives us a better understanding of the Globalist Agenda, which is no myth or conspiracy. Perkins does a fabulous job conveying his experiences with a casual style of writing in which he uses a very straightforward approach. His knowledge as an insider and his honesty is what sells the book, or at least that’s my opinion. And the timing of the book couldn’t have been any better. The book is an easy read and is certainly a must for those who are into history, politics, and economics.
Many key points in modern American history are delved into by Perkins. Some of my favorites: The fall of the Shah of Iran, The Harken Energy deal, the Saudi Arabia Money-laundering Affair, the Bush family and the House of Saud, and the Financing of Osama bin Laden. Much more is covered in its entirety.
Here are a number of books validated by the economic hit man himself: Globalization and Its Discontents, When Corporations Rule the World, Hegemony or Survival, Sorrows of Empire, and Bush Agenda. I have personally read Hegemony or Survival written by Noam Chomsky. It’s considered a must-read.
Predatory capitalism is a term that the author uses that further ensconced the new American Empire, and is defined in the U.S. by economist Milton Friedman from the Chicago school of economics. The defining aspects are threefold as described by Perkins.
Defining Aspects of Predatory Capitalism
1. The only goal of business should be to maximize profits, regardless of the social and the environmental costs.
2. Regulations on business should be minimized.
3. Everything should be run by private business. This means to privatize items such as school systems, jail systems, and even the military.
Perkins said that most of the American people are unaware of American policies around the world and the profound implications of these actions. Unfortunately, this is a sad fact.
Corporatocracy
“In their drive to advance the global empire, corporations, banks, and governments use their financial and political muscle to ensure that our schools, businesses, and media support both the fallacious concept and its corollary.”
“One of corporatocracy’s most important functions is to perpetuate and continually expand and strengthen the system.”
Confessions of an Economic Hit Man
In the book, Perkins gives us the background of where he came from and how he got his start as an economic hit man in January of 1971. It was the luxurious lifestyle that enticed him to take a position with Chas. T. Main. It was the lifestyle that he dreamed of and nothing was going to stand in the way of his goals.
His career path would take him to Ecuador, Indonesia, Panama, Columbia, Saudi Arabia, Iran, and many other places.
Dignitaries like Omar Torrijos and Jaime Roldós left an impact on Perkins, as he very much admired their loyalty and their bravery. In the end, both would lose their lives while defending their country. Perkins had a job to do as an economic hit man, but his conscience began to convince him over time that what he was doing was wrong.
Perkins describes how multinationals exploit workers once their economies are conformed to the U.S. dollar. A perfect example of this exploitation is a recent tragedy in Bangladesh, where over 1,000 employees died as a result of an eight-story commercial building that collapsed. Reports of cracks in the building the day before had been largely ignored.
The men (and women) know what they’re doing is wrong, Perkins has argued, but they are well rewarded financially and they are constantly being encouraged to continue with the profession.
Perkins has explained that as an economic hit man he was sent to various underdeveloped countries primarily to corrupt the political leaders, in order to get them to sign valuable contracts that actually benefited American corporations in the long run. Economic forecasts were artificially inflated to convince the leaders that they needed to borrow vast sums of money to fund projects that were supposed to improve the infrastructure in their country. In reality, the interest from the loans would enslave the countries that were to be helped, because it was impossible to repay these loans. And part of the strategy was to force countries to acquiesce to political pressure from the U.S., thereby effectively crippling their economies and subjecting the natives to more misery.
Economic hit men (EHMs) are highly-paid professionals who cheat countries around the globe out of trillions of dollars. They funnel money from the World Bank, the U.S. Agency for International Development (USAID), and other foreign “aid” organizations into the coffers of huge corporations and the pockets of a few wealthy families who control the planet’s natural resources. Their tools included fraudulent financial reports, rigged elections, payoffs, extortion, sex, and murder. They play a game as old as empire, but one that has taken on new and terrifying dimensions during this time of globalization. — John Perkins
[...] versus what another author had expressed in his book about applications of similar motives. In Confessions of an Economic Hit Man, author John Perkins discusses the patterns of global [...]