Confessions of an Economic Hit Man

I'm currently reading Confessions of an Economic Hitman by John Perkins and must confess that I don't quite know what to make of it yet.

It's a damaging and damning book. Given its contents, I'm frankly surprised that the author is still alive and not in hiding.

Excerpts from the back cover:

'Economic Hit Men 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.

John Perkins should know -- he was an economic hit man for an international consulting firm that worked to convince poorer countries to accept enormous development loans -- and to make sure that such projects were contracted to U.S. companies. Once these countries were saddled with huge debts, the American government would request their "pound of flesh" in favours, including access to national resources, military cooperation, and political support.

The book itself reads a lot like a spy novel, which makes the book accessible and easy to read. However, the conversational tone also reduces the book's believability. I almost wish it had been written in a dry, matter of fact tone, i.e., with a lot less sensationalism.

While I was in line at the bookstore paying for this book, I noticed a poster that was promoting yet another 'economic hit man'-type book that is due to be released soon; this new one will be focused on events in the Philippines during the Marcos presidency.

I would have bought a copy if it were already in stock; it's apparently on order right now. It should make for interesting reading, especially if the contents are anything like this Executive Intelligence Review article on George Schultz and the Philippines.