Confessions of an Economic Hitman

By: John Perkins

Narrated by: Brian Emerson

Length: 9 hrs and 16 mins

Publisher's summary

This is the inside story of how America turned from a respected republic into a feared empire.

"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."

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 lucrative projects were contracted to Halliburton, Bechtel, Brown and Root, and other United States engineering and construction companies. 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.

Listen to John Perkins discuss the book on To the Best of Our Knowledge.

©2004 John Perkins (P)2005 Blackstone Audiobooks

Why the US is hated worldwide

This is an eye opener for all those people that think the US is only trying to help the rest of the world. These "confessions" show how we manipulate countries in development so they can't grow.
Don't get me wrong, the US has done MORE THAN ANY OTHER COUNTRY to rid the world of invasionist countries and we can be very proud of that, but we also have an Imperialistic side that is not disclosed inside the US.

An insight on how the world goes round.

This was a great book front to back. It really had quite a bit of "story" with the details of the job mixed in. It was a medium easy read for me and the job of an Economic hitman will give you insight on how the global economy is as dangerous and cut throat as the seediest black market.

EHM - John Perkins

It's all about perception …
A good listen.

who will listen

but what is most important is who will act. NO doubt this book leans on the liberal side for now a days a policy or train of thought that seems not to agree with war and demands us to take a harsh look at our foreign policy is called "liberal propaganda". However the fact is that our present economic policies and the narrative of John Perkins seem to be coliding and it is difficult not to ask ourselves how far have we gone to control more of the planets resources and at what expense. One thing to remember is that human wants are limitless while our resources are not, in fact you can ask any Economics professor and he/she will tell you that the aforementioned statement is the basis of Economics.

Fascinating, scary, and thought-provoking

A fascinating book, well-written, and scary, particularly given our current state of affairs. It should be mandatory reading for every MBA,politics, and economics student. Well-read, well-paced, and very thought-provoking.

good story but author is preachy and talks down

beginning and end are painful but the story is good. his anecdotes and generalizations reveal his lack o economics training and political perspective. but his experiences and interactions are very interesting to read. skip the end if you don't see him as the Messiah.

Why have you not read this book yet?

The stories contained in this book are scary because they are completely plausible. I've heard of some of the arguments for and against this book. However, there is little denying that we (USA) do many bad things. Read the book and see if you can decide if this is great fiction or some of the scariest non-fiction you've ever read.

Let's work to make the Americas Great Again

The indigenous people of the Americas have shown us how to create a living economy that will be the way back to greatness.

Must read for anyone wanting to know why things are the way they are today.

If everyone read this book I think it would help solve a lot of the problems that are going on in this world because people would know what's happening and know why it's happening. There would be less deception going on as well. A lot of things make sense to me now that didn't make sense before.

Must read!

Want to understand the problems in the middle east, latin america, the new global economy? Or answer the question 'why do they hate us after we give countries all that money'? Or just get a working handle on how things operate in politics & real life. You don't have to have a degree in economics or anything else. Explained thru the experience of a hitman fending off the jackles. U probable work for a company & will easily see the wider implications. Should be required reading.