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Book Review: Confessions of an Economic Hit Man by John Perkins

Who: John Perkins, an idealistic Peace Corps volunteer

What: His transformation into and experiences as an “Economic Hit Man” (EHM)

Where: Developing countries around the globe

When: The 1970s, 80s, and 90s

Why: Read it and found out

What I liked: The history, “big picture”, and ground-level detail of geopolitical and economic warfare. This is an unfiltered look from an insider at how things work on a level that most people never get to see, and it offers a lot of background information about Central America and the Middle East of which I wasn’t previously aware (or didn’t remember). The overall concept of an EHM is pretty easy to grasp if you’re a banker, an investment banker, or are familiar with sub-prime lending or the methods that credit card companies use.

What I didn’t like: The author is extremely overt (particularly in the epilogue) about his dissatisfaction with the current state of America, and to me it seemed slightly overdone. Not because I necessarily disagree with him, but the reader can easily draw his own conclusions without having it run into the ground by the author. I thought it detracted - slightly - from his message. Overall, there was very little I didn’t find interesting.

Why it was worth my time (or why it was not): It’s a fast-paced book that hits on a LOT of topics that are currently - or in the process of becoming - extremely relevant. Economics, politics, history… but it reads like a Clancy novel at times.

Excerpt 1:

“…Claudine [the EHM recruiter] sat in a window settee watching the snow fall on Beacon Street. ‘We’re a small, exclusive club,’ she said. ’We’re paid - well paid - to cheat countries around the globe out of billions of dollars. A large part of your job is to encourage world leaders to become part of a vast network that promotes US commercial interests. In the end, those leaders become ensnared ina web of debt that ensures their loyalty. We can draw on them whenever we desire - to satisfy our political, economic, or military needs.”

Excerpt 2:

“…throughout most of history, empires were built largely through military force or the threat of it. But with the end of World War II, the emergence of the Soviet Union, and the specter of nuclear holocaust, the military solution became just too risky.

The decisive moment occured in 1951, when Iran rebelled against a British oil company that was exploiting Iranian natural resources and its people. The company was the forerunner of British Petroleum, today’s BP. In response, the highly popular, democratically elected Iranian prime minister Mohammad Mossadegh nationalized all Iranian petroleum assets. An outraged England sought the help of her WWII ally, the US. However, both countries feared that military retaliation would provoke the Soviet Union into taking action on behalf of Iran.

Instead of sending in the Marines, therefore, Washington dispatched CIA agent Kermit Roosevelt (Theodore’s grandson). He performed brilliantly, winning people over through payoffs and threats. He then enlisted them to organize a series of street riots and violent demonstrations, which created the impression that Mossadegh was both unpopular and inept. In the end, Mossadegh went down, and he spent the rest of his life under house arrest. The pro-American Mohammad Reza Shah became the unchallenged dictator. Kermit Roosevelt had set the stage for a new profession, the one whose ranks I was joining.”

Rating (1-10): 8.0

You’ll like this book if you like or are interested in: International politics, economics, diplomacy, George Soros.

http://www.economichitman.com/

Popularity: 4% [?]

This entry was posted on Thursday, November 2nd, 2006 at 1:11 am and is filed under Books/Readings. You can follow any responses to this entry through the RSS 2.0 feed. You can leave a response, or trackback from your own site.

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Book Review: Confessions of an Economic Hit Man by John Perkins

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