The New Confessions of an Economic Hitman by John Perkins
“The New Confessions of an Economic Hit Man” – The Penguin Publishing House, New York – by John Perkins has become a “phenomenon” in the US and is spreading to other countries.
Although the author is an almost unknown person, and the book has not been mentioned by a major newspaper (until recently), it has climbed to the sixth in the list of bestsellers (March). / 2006). The book is also being encouraged by students to read, and Hollywood will probably be filming a movie with actor Harrison Ford starring.
This is a memoir of a character named John Perkins, claiming to have been an “economic killer”. “Economic assassin,” said Perkins, who was sent by the US businessmen to developing countries to carry out dark economic intrigues to serve their interests, and indirectly, of the United States. The book is Perkins’s “confession” about the “sins” he committed in the 1970s
The author said: after graduating from college, he was recruited by a consulting firm in Boston (USA) to be an economist with two duties. First, he will be sent to a developing country to justify (often lie) what infrastructure projects (such as highways, dams, power networks …) how countries This loan is borrowed from international organizations and banks and, at the same time, helps US big companies (such as Bechtel, Halliburton) “win bid”.
Then, “Economic Hit Man” Perkins must how to get them … bankrupt, unable to pay their debts. Once in this situation, these countries have to listen to creditors, become a docile “junior” of the US, let the US exploit oil and other natural resources, set up military bases, or At least vote according to the United States at the United Nations.
Perkins’s career began in Indonesia in 1971 with the mission of setting up an electrical network project for Java Island. He received orders to make extremely optimistic economic forecasts so that USAID (US Economic Aid Agency) and international banks could lend money to the Indonesian government. Of course, the project will fail (or not as many benefits as forecast), Indonesia cannot pay its debts, and fall into the “handcuffs” of the US.
Completing the mission in Indonesia, in 1972 Perkins was sent to Panama. As an “advisor” to the country’s “overall development plan,” Perkins was ordered by his boss to propose a series of unrealistic projects, fabricating numbers, imagining a bright future for Panama for Ngan. The World Bank invests billions of dollars in infrastructure in this country. Perkins did not forget to put in a loan agreement under certain conditions that only US companies could satisfy.
More cruel, because the Panamanian government at the time had a “pompous” attitude toward the United States, namely, wanting the US to return the Panama Canal, Perkins was instructed how to make the leaders of this country “meek” to the US .
But, perhaps Perkins’ most brilliant “achievement” is in Saudi Arabia, where Perkins “landed” in 1974. As a few times, Perkins has also been ordered to exaggerate growth forecasts to justify his purchases. loans and contracts with US companies.
More importantly, Perkins confessed that, in order to avoid a recurrence of the oil crisis like in the 1970s, he was ordered to persuade the Saudi Government not to let oil flow into the United States interrupted, in a affordable”; using oil sales to buy US treasury; then using interest to hire US business corporations to “modernize” Saudi Arabia in Western style.
Perkins boasted that he had turned Saudi Arabia into a “milking cow to retire” for him and his bosses, and proudly called “The US Treasury Department hired us, paid us with Saudi money. Saudi, to build infrastructure there, even many of their cities are entirely built by us. ”
After a few more trips in Iran and Colombia, Perkins retired from “killer” in 1980. Having been “tormented by conscience” ever since, he wrote this book (despite being repeatedly blocked, he said).