"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 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 new and terrifying dimensions during this time of
globalization. I should know; I was an EHM."
John Perkins should know—he was an economic hit man. His job was to convince countries that are strategically important to the U.S.—from Indonesia
to Panama—to accept enormous loans for infrastructure development, and to make sure that the lucrativeprojects were contracted to U. S.
corporations. Saddled with huge debts, these countries came under the control of the United States government, World Bank and other U.S.-dominated aid
agencies that acted like loan sharks—dictating repayment terms and bullying foreign governments into submission.
This extraordinary real-life tale exposes international intrigue, corruption, and little-known government and corporate activities that have dire
consequences for American democracy and the world.
In this riveting personal story, John Perkins tells of his own inner journey from willing servant of empire to impassioned advocate for the rights of
oppressed people. Covertly recruited by the United States National Security Agency and on the payroll of an international consulting firm, he traveled
the world—to Indonesia, Panama, Ecuador, Colombia, Saudi Arabia, Iran and other strategically important countries. His job was to implement policies
that promoted the interests of the U.S. corporatocracy (a coalition of government, banks, and corporations) while professing to alleviate
poverty—policies that alienated many nations and ultimately led to September 11 and growing anti-Americanism.
Perkins' story illuminates just how far he and his colleagues—self-described as economic hit men—were willing to go. He explains, for instance,
how he helped to implement a secret scheme that funneled billions of Saudi Arabian petrodollars back into the U. S. economy, and that further cemented
the intimate relationship between the Islamic fundamentalist House of Saud and a succession of American administrations. Perkins reveals the hidden
mechanics of imperial control behind some of the most dramatic events in recent history, such as the fall of the Shah of Iran, the death of Panamanian
president Omar Torrijos, and the U.S. invasions of Panama and Iraq.
Confessions of an Economic Hit Man, which many people warned Perkins not to write, exposes the little known inner workings of a system that fosters
globalization and leads to the impoverishment of millions of people across the planet. It is a compelling story that also offers hope and a vision for
realizing the American dream of a just and compassionate world that will bring us greater security.
Within a few weeks of its release , Confessions of an Economic Hit Man landed onThe New York Times Bestseller List, then 19 other bestseller lists
including the Los Angeles Times, San Francisco Chronicle, USA Today, Wall Street Journal, and Washington Post. The author has been interviewed
repeatedly on national radio and television shows, including Amy Goodman's Democracy Now, CSPAN's Book TV, and PBS' Now with David Brancaccio. And
now the book is being published in 9 languages around the world. According to John Perkins, "It is accomplishing an important objective in inspiring
people to think and talk and to know that we can change the world."
Official website for the book "Confessions of an Economic Hit Man":
www.economichitman.com...
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