by John Perkins
An economic hit man is a man who influences decision makers of foreign countries – preferably poor one with rich natural resources – to accept loans from the world bank or US institutions. This money in turn must be invested in big scale infrastructure projects. Another condition is that US construction or energy companies are the designees of the tenders for these projects. In this way the money never leaves the US but those poor countries are heavily in debt. Most likely, the projects are overestimated in magnitudes. Corrupt local politicians are the counterpart in this system. if needed these countries can be forced to vote in the interest of the US in international organisations.
The task of an economic hit man is to prepare the overly optimistic prospects and to employ every tool – money, blackmail, women – to bring those local leaders to accept the loans. Which in turn promise a bright future for their fellow countrymen.
The interesting thing I found is that this book and its author is not very often attacked by those patriots, nationalists or those neocons. Such a book should produce a lot of controversy, and teh usual practises should kick in: digging out some dark point in the author’s life, making fun to show how absurd the claims are, picking one secondary point in the book and proving that he is wrong in that particular point, and, of course, over-emphasise on it. I found only one mayor article in the Washington Post.
Maybe it is so true that the establishment prefer to wait until the topic dies with time going by or everything is just too fantastical. At least to me it seems pretty credible since he was an economic hit man.
The task of an economic hit man is to prepare the overly optimistic prospects and to employ every tool – money, blackmail, women – to bring those local leaders to accept the loans. Which in turn promise a bright future for their fellow countrymen.
The interesting thing I found is that this book and its author is not very often attacked by those patriots, nationalists or those neocons. Such a book should produce a lot of controversy, and teh usual practises should kick in: digging out some dark point in the author’s life, making fun to show how absurd the claims are, picking one secondary point in the book and proving that he is wrong in that particular point, and, of course, over-emphasise on it. I found only one mayor article in the Washington Post.
Maybe it is so true that the establishment prefer to wait until the topic dies with time going by or everything is just too fantastical. At least to me it seems pretty credible since he was an economic hit man.
Facts:
English title: Confessions of an Economic Hit Man
Original title: Confessions of an Economic Hit Man
Published: 2004
