Good morning from Instaread, your book summary concierge. Today’s title is a wild ride through some of the darkest secrets of the US government.
As a former economic hit man, John Perkins has been in involved in some of modern history’s most shocking events. He used to cheat countries out of enormous sums of money on behalf of the American government. After 9/11, he decided to lift the veil of secrecy that had surrounded his life as an EHM to write The New Confessions of an Economic Hit Man. He felt it was his duty to share his insider knowledge about the role the US government, multinational “aid” organizations, and corporations played in bringing the world to this point.
A Dirty Business
John’s job entailed asking leaders to sign off on World Bank loans that would be used to hire US businesses to work on infrastructure projects in their respective countries. Often a threat would be involved. To pay off the interest on the loans, the country would have to use funds budgeted for public services such as health care and education. As the country sank deeper into debt, it would be forced to give its resources to corporations at low prices and to privatize public sector institutions like electric, water, or sewer and sell them to the corporatocracy. When the country inevitably had to default on its loan payments, the EHMs would demand control over UN votes, the establishment of military bases, and/or access to valuable resources such as oil. On top of that, the country would still owe money.
Today’s Economic Hit Men
Actions that would have been seen as unethical, unconscionable, and illegal during John’s EHM days are now standard procedure. Corruption at the highest levels has become acceptable because corporate EHMs write the laws and fund the politicians who pass them. The list of contemporary EHMs in the Democratic Party and Republican Party is endless, and there are still more EHMs in the US House of Representatives.
Read our full summary of The New Confessions of an Economic Hit Man. . .
