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Confessions of an Economic Hit Man | 
| Author: John Perkins
Publisher: Plume
Category: Book
List Price: $15.00
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Avg. Customer Rating:  653 reviews
Sales Rank: 1514
Media: Paperback
Number Of Items: 1
Pages: 320
Shipping Weight (lbs): 1.3
Dimensions (in): 8 x 5.4 x 0.8
ISBN: 0452287081
Dewey Decimal Number: 332.042092
EAN: 9780452287082
ASIN: 0452287081
Publication Date: December 27, 2005
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Condition: Lightly bumped corner tips of cover, and slight slant to spine. Otherwise excellent condition. Cover is super glossy clean. Spine is UNcreased. . Pages are tight, clean, straight, unmarked. A6c
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Amazon.com Review
John Perkins started and stopped writing IConfessions of an Economic Hit Man/I 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. IConfessions of an Economic Hit Man/I is an extraordinary and gripping tale of intrigue and dark machinations. Think John Le Carre, except it's a true story.p 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. I--Alex Roslin/I
Product Description
BWith new material from the author/B P "Economic hit men," John Perkins writes," are highly paid professionals who cheat countries around the globe out of trillions of dollars. Their tools include fraudulent financial reports, rigged elections, payoffs, extortion, sex, and murder. They play a game as old as Empire but one that has taken on terrifying dimensions during this time of globalization." John Perkins should know-he was an economic hit man for an international consulting firm that worked to convince developing countries to accept enormous loans and to funnel that money to U.S. corporations. Once these countries were saddled with huge debts, the American government and international aid agencies were able to request their "pound of flesh" in favors, including access to natural resources, military cooperation, and political support. IConfessions of an Economic Hit Man/I is the story of one man's experiences inside the intrigue, greed, corruption and little-known government and corporate activities that America has been involved in since World War II, and which have dire consequences for the future of democracy and the world.
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| Customer Reviews: Read 648 more reviews...
 An Enlightening Read January 5, 2009
It is not John Perkins' goal to describe his participation in some US governmental conspiracy. Rather Perkins tremendously gives the reader insightful information in something he calls "corporatocracy." Corporatocracy is made up of banks, corporations, and governments that each play a part in creating an American empire based on manipulation and deceit. br /br /An economic hit man, according to Perkins, is someone who travels to less developed countries and entices them to receive World Bank loans to develop their infrastructure (such as roads, airports, electrical grids, water purification systems, dams, etc.) The catch is, the loans given to the country must be handed to the US Treasury, who in return, will disburse it among US construction companies who stand to make an enormous sum of money. If the game is played correctly, the country will not be able to pay the loan back. The US will then forgive some of the loans in exchange for a military base or a chance to drill for oil. The real winner of all of this is of course the US.br /br /I believe Confessions gives us a look at what we all believe is going on behind the curtain, but do not know the specifics. Perkins gives these specifics and so much more. I highly recommend this book.
Good for Americans to read December 30, 2008
The subject of Confessions of an Economic Hit Man is something that to much of the world outside of the USA is common knowledge but is hidden from the view of those living within its borders. It is an essential read for any American who has ever asked the question: "Why does the rest of the world hate us so much?" It is an essential read for those hoping to understand the state of current world affairs and the spread of globalization. At the very least, it will either prompt you to empathise with the state of those enslaved by the system, or to reject what you have just read as utter foolishness. In either case, at least you will understand the very real mindset of people around the world.
Excellent December 29, 2008
This is an excellent book that will raise your awareness of solutions to corporate greed.
the subject was one of a kind December 22, 2008
the reason I bought the book was to answer few question marks I had observed,me growing up in the middle east.br /the book is a hard truth about how the word's been running post WW2,br /the only think that I might disagree with the author is ,for 400 years the middle east was suffering of corruption under different names and in different ways ,lately the USA ,well it is what we call the nature law .br /radicals grew in our area not because of US policy only but further more for internal reasons they have been widely rejected in the area for long time what changed is now they became more popular yet still a big minority.br /what I am trying to say the US wasn't the solo player in the modern word corruption they just used it for their own benefit ( not their own people benefit).
 Redressing Inequality December 18, 2008
Hard-hitting expose` written by a repentant insider who seems to sincerely wish to reverse the process of the exploitation of poor and developing nations by the rich and powerful, developed nations working in collusion with corporate interests and wealthy elites in these poor countries. It is rich with detail, and the final few chapters offer possible solutions or at least remedies to the current state of decay in North-South relations.
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