Confessions of an Economic Hit Man

Rating:
Summary: Amazing book, amazing person, MUST read!
Review: I recommend this book very, very highly. Mr. Perkins is a
one-of-a-kind, "been there done that" person. "Confessions" is an
easy-to-read book yet covers very complex issues, so please excuse
what are clearly some contradictory opinions of the reviewer!

On a much, much smaller scale I could relate to what Mr. Perkins
discusses in his "Confessions," deservedly a NY Times bestseller. I had
to decide whether to sell out myself, and I did to a certain extent, and
thus while working for BP I was given the opportunity to travel to a
number of countries, where at times I saw the horrifying differences
between the haves and the have-nots. And like him, at times I tried to
speak the language or at least learn about the culture of the country or
I was visiting, and because of that and as well as having a certain
openness was given the opportunity to interact with denizens of countries
at a deeper level than those Americans who think that we are No. 1, and
the rest of the world should be subservient to our dictates. Fortunately
I was really just a "lackey," I just did their bidding, I wasn't part of
the huge money deals that "hit men" like Mr. Perkins were involved in.

I don't think the author would be surprised to read that people who
read his "Confessions" can at the same or different times be amazed, feel
great admiration, and anger! Thankfully he provides a fairly in depth
background of his early life, specifically being a "poor underdog," that
later perhaps helps us to understand why he took great advantage of
business opportunities given almost no one at such a very young age. Yet
he doesn't "sell out" right away either. He spends 3 years working in
Ecuador for the Peace Corps, and as mentioned already, he is broad-minded
enough to learn languages and cultures. Throughout his career, even before
he can no longer deal with the way he feels about his "hit man" activities,
he is always learning about the places and peoples he visits, and (again
as I have found) people in other countries really appreciate Americans who
are interested in them. I found these parts of the book very telling in the
sense that a) even people who might resent EHM realize that they are just
doing a job in a very complicated world, and b) surely when we engage people
openly and fairly we can get along much better than when we force our
worldview on them.

One of the other reviewers gave a link to an audio interview, which I
would highly recommend, where Mr. Perkins states repeatedly that he was
seduced by money, sex, and power, and his handlers knew he could be seduced!

As other reviewers have noted, the book is not consistent in the
detail of what is discussed. A number of chapters are less than 5 pages, in
fact I don't think that any chapter is even 10 pages! The shorter chapters
leave you feeling that a great deal has been omitted, though perhaps this is
because the author had so much material to cover he only wanted to hit the
high points. The chapter on the deals that were negotiated between (US)
corporations and the Saudis after the oil embargo of 1973 substantiated
other material I've come across, and was the right length to me.

One could easily imagine a movie made of the author's experiences, though
it would take quite a few actors in different countries to do it
properly!

Yes, most "idealists" certainly feel anger at what the author was a
part of, making great profits for big corporations and himself, while saddling
Third World countries with huge debts, which they must service rather than
helping the indigent, the ones we have been led to believe are helped by the
often false term "foreign aid." Where I felt the most anger was on p. 154,
where Mr. Perkins negotiates a deal where he is paid three times what he made
as an economic hit man for doing nothing more than being available as an
expert witness! I found it impossible to understand where his conscience is
at that point, though he certainly makes use of his free time to work on
issues such as alternative energy and taking people on tours of the Amazon.

The best chapter for me is Chapter 30, "The United States Invades Panama."
On pp. 180-1, in very blunt language, Perkins writes about how
businesspeople have become wholly desensitized to what they are doing and
how they are affecting the less fortunate, and yet convince themselves that
what they are doing is "legal" and thus justifiable. And how many of us
profit in our investments from these activities? Also, the chapters that
cover how leaders of countries who don't cooperate with the "corprotocracy"
are killed are totally devastating!

One thing about the book that I found somewhat strange is the
author's constant use of the word "coincidence," that our lives are greatly
influenced by certain "coincidences," that even by his own admission happen
often at exactly the right time. Since he is an expert in indigenous cultures
and shamanism one would think that he would be well acquainted with the
term "synchronicity," though this is not exactly an ancient term, yet surely
it implies a connection with a "universal flow" we try to get in sync
with. In fact Mr. Perkins seems to go out of his way to use coincidence
rather than a more "New Age" term!

Rating:
Summary: Very interesting autobiography
Review: As a 1st generation American from one of the worlds Perkins visited, I find his analysis fair, well-spoken and uniquely interesting. His creative writing, and personal accounts of United States policies and economic Consulting firm MAIN's Central/Southern American and Middle Eastern actions from 1965-1985 is quite incredible.

I was however uncomfortable with the text's poor transition post 1985 to today and the fun but much less credible Fahrenheit 9/11 comments which begin in the last 2-3 pages of "Part II - 1971-1975". Parts I & II are entirely based in Perkin's personal experiences and his internal ethical dilemmas as an EHM. Yet Part II concludes in a departure from Perkin's personal journal based storyline to a controversial editorial on G.W. Bush's link to the Saudi family. To an avid & informed reader it comes across as a poorly inserted publishing ploy to briefly and vaguely discuss controversial points on G.W. Bush during and election year. Rather than entering into a more detailed analysis as the author does on other topics, many connections are made and then not well supported leaving the reader to believe its only point is sheer shock value with a goal of increasing sales volumes of an already controversial book to begin with.

Overall, a great read. Definitely one for the list if you're interested in Globalism and even the effects of Outsourcing and Offshoring in the greater economic picture. I would recommend this book to all consultants out there simply due to the strong moral & ethical dilemmas the author addresses and in some ways doesn't.


Rating:
Summary: Distorting History for Political Agenda
Review: Did President Roosevelt conspire with Adolf Hitler to start World War II in order to give American companies profits and to lift America out of the Depression?

If you think so, with absolutely no evidence to support your theory, then you will love John Perkins' book.

With no evidence, facts, or other documentation to support him, he makes 2 essentially major claims:

1. he worked to distort economic reports to help third world countries get funds for development they did not deserve or need;

2. it was a US government conspiracy to "enslave" these countries.

Now while Perkins may have done number 1 above, he does not prove in any way the second charge.

All through the 80's and 90's, corrupt governments were soliciting funds for developmental projects of dubious value. Perkins may have worked for them and help move these projects along. But on many occasions, the US government fought against the projects and funding them, or more specifically the US government fought against funding the UN's, the World Bank's, and the IMF's effort to do these projects.

In fact I remember much acrimonious rhetoric coming from the likes of Tip O'Neil and Ted Kennedy about how evil Ronald Reagan was for not giving into the UN's, the World Bank's, and the IMF's request for more money to help in these projects.

Many of the conservative press, especially the Wall Street Journal, Forbes magazine, and Investor Business Daily, condemned the very projects and the funding methods Perkins is now saying we supported.

Ironic, isn't it, that the very organization that tried to stop this, the US government, is now the one blamed for the problem?

Ironic, also, is the implied charge that the America economy is somehow to blame for the funding when in fact it was the policies of the UN, the IMF, the World Bank, and other more liberal organizations and politicians?

Rating:
Summary: eye opener
Review: If you want to understand "why they hate us" and the real reasons behind the US foreign policies, read this book.

It's very well written, I just wish the author gave more details sometimes. It's shocking, provocative, and makes a great case against US capitalism as a model of society.

Rating:
Summary: make sense but not true
Review: John Perkins makes a lot of sense in the book, but if readers TRULY know history, what John Perkins is telling is not the truth. He is describing his own conspiracy theory. It is merely a "confessions of a depressed man."

Rating:
Summary: Thank you
Review: Thank you Mr.Perkins for providing such a detailed insight into the new world that we live in.

Highly recommend this book to anyone curious about America's business interest in the developing nations.
Wonder what the jackals have to say about this :)

Rating:
Summary: doesn't fly
Review: The author claims we built infrastructure for countries who couldn't/didn't pay us for them. Doesn't sound like a great idea to me. I don't doubt that there are social and environmental problems associated with oil production and these should be addressed, but this book does not really make sense. Would the world be better off without globalization? How would backwards countries ever get started on the road to a modern state? Remember along with some negatives, a modern state means health care, education etc. The author suggests that corporations should have as their major goal helping poor countries rather than profits. Bet they wouldn't be major corporations very long with that attitude and by the way, What would the stockholders think? Bottom line, the author doesn't make his case.

Rating:
Summary: analysis of "confessions of an economic hit man"
Review: This book should be a must read in every high school, or for that matter middle school, around the country. "Confessions of an Economic Hit Man" is an entertaining and compelling account by an "insider" in U.S. foreign affairs, world trade and globalization. The book serves as an excellent gateway to sparking interest, concern and deeper understanding of how the U.S. interacts with foreign nations and industrial forces.

Rating:
Summary: Debt, Deception, Enslavement, Exploitation
Review: Welcome to the new world "Corporatocracy". John Perkins has written an amazing book. It offers a first person, inside-look at a network of individuals, banks and corporations operating quietly around the world whose goal seems to be to bring everyone in the world under their control. Terrifying. This book kept me from sleeping for nights. Because it is a personal account, it is all the more real. The author writes of his experiences in countries such as Ecuador, Panama and Saudi Arabia amongst others. We are introduced to leaders in some of these countries who had the courage to stand up to this Corporatocracy and the United States - and who ended up dying under suspicious circumstances.

Much of what the author writes is not going to be on the 6 o'clock news in America. Our television stations, newspapers and magazines are all owned by huge corporations that have their own agendas. We, as Americans need to wake up and speak out. We need to educate ourselves. And we need to get the word out. Too many Americans simply do not have any idea what is really going on around them.

This is an important book. Read it and pass it on.

Rating:
Summary: Required reading
Review: What an eye-opener. This book finally provides an explanation for the Panama invasion - I had always wondered what Noriega did to displease us.

This book, coupled with David Cay Johnson's 'Perfectly Legal', provides everything you need to know about how our country is really run.