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The first novel by John Perkins is an expose into the underworld of a little known section of government activities which detrimentally affect native populations and the efficacy of democracies worldwide.
Perkins tells about his own experience working for a private international consulting firm which advised the World Bank in efforts to fund huge loans for poor developing countries all around the globe. He explains how he was indoctrinated into the system of cheating poor countries out of trillions of dollars, plunging the countries into insurmountable debt which must then be repaid through the extraction of natural resources, military assistance and political support.
He reveals commonly used tactics to pressure small underdeveloped countries into accepting terms which adversely affect the ability of their people to survive and thrive.
Confessions of an Economic Hit Man is an intriguing and deeply personal story of one's man understanding of the meaning of globalization and empire in America today. Perkins reveals shocking details of how the United States Government and corporate America work hand in hand in maintaining a dominating role in international affairs by using greed and corruption to inhibit foreign governments from economic development.
Chapter Summaries
Chapter One- An Economic Hit Man Is Born
Perkins begins his novel with a few pages describing his family and childhood in rural New Hampshire. He makes a point to mention that his family was middle class but they had very little spending money for extravagant purchases. His parents taught at a prestigious all boy high school, which he attended at no cost. He vividly recalls feeling like he didn't fit in with his wealthy classmates, which helped to construct a psychological framework that, later in life, led to his seduction into the underworld of dirty global politics. While growing up, he remembers constantly being reminded by his parents of social class placement and structure. They stressed attending a "good" university and staying away from questionable lower class, and largely poor, people.
Once at university, Middlebury in rural Vermont, Perkins went through something of a rebellious phase. He rejected his parents incessant harping on class and achieving success in life. He defiantly dropped out of school, giving up a full academic scholarship, in order to attend Boston University. While living in Boston he became friends with his later wife, Ann. As a couple barely out of school in the late sixties, John was fearful that he would be drafted and sent to Vietnam. Ann set up an interview with an official from the National Security Agency for him because those working for the NSA were exempt from the draft. Through a series of events and interviews John was in line to receive a position as an economist within the Agency, however, life was about to take a radical turn for the newly married couple. On a whim John attended a seminar at Boston University focused on the topic of volunteering for the Peace Corps. John had always dreamed of living with native peoples and coming to understand their cultural practices so, after receiving some positive advice, he and Ann packed up and moved to Ecuador to live with a native tribe. While living in Ecuador, serving as a Peace Corps volunteer, a man from a private consulting firm came to visit John and Ann, which marked the beginning of John's association with the world of political domination through economic control.
The consulting firm worked for the World Bank primarily. They submitted their analyses and opinions of whether foreign governments should be granted huge loans by the World Bank to fund development projects. The firm kept a very low profile. In fact, they were registered officially as an engineering firm but at that time they were beginning to take on economists to provide the World Bank with statistical information gathered on each project the bank was considering funding. The agent from MAIN International Consulting Firm praised John and Ann's efforts in the Central American jungle nation of Ecuador. He also requested that John analyze the local political, social, and economic environment and report back to the NSA with his observations. Perkins did so loyally. Upon the completion of their time with the Peace Corps John was offered a job as an economist at MAIN International. Soon after being hired Perkins came to realize that, although he was hired as an economist, his real job was much closer to that of a secret, or double, agent.
Chapter Two- In For Life
After accepting the position and beginning his daily work at MAIN International Perkins began to wonder what it was the MAIN International was in the business of doing. He observed the way the company worked and was structured but he was unsure as to what the goal of the corporation was as a whole. He remarks that there is an obvious gender bias with many women working at the level of secretary but almost none in the executive ranks. The public library was where Perkins spends most of his days researching his first assignment, the Indonesian island of Java, as well as a possible future assignment, Kuwait. He studied the history of the countries from economic and political perspectives. One day while studying up on the format of common economic forecasts an attractive woman, Claudine, approaches Perkins. She explains to him that she holds a very prestigious position within the corporation and she was to be his tutor, of sorts, in actual position. She goes on to inform Perkins that he was handpicked to be an Economic Hit Man. What that meant, essentially, was that Perkins was to make economic predictions for the prospect of a country that may be granted a huge loan from the World Bank. The linchpin being that Perkins was to always produce statistics that favored the loan being granted and showed increased economic prosperity for the country as a direct result of whatever the loan was to fund. Basically, on the long term if Perkins could be depended on to produce the desired reports and statistics the loan would be funded by the World Bank. The money from the loans went directly to international firms, like MAIN International, Bechtel, and Halliburton, amongst others. The contractors were paid off and the country to which the loan was granted would be left with a huge debt burden for many decades to come. The debt that was owed would be used by the United States government to spread the American global agenda. Because of the huge debt the leaders of such countries would submit to supporting US military ventures, and providing political support. Claudine goes onto explain the history of using economic power as a means of control and submission by the American government.
There is a brief foray into the 1951 ouster of the democratically elected leader of Iran, Mohammed Mossadegh. This event marks the first occasion the American government abandoned the typical pressure tactic of applying military might to affect the outcome of a foreign dilemma, and instead opted for the more subtle techniques of bribery and threats. Then she informs Perkins that he has a limited amount of time to decide whether or not he will accept the position for which he was hired. She promises a very rewarding future for him in his family but makes explicitly clear that once he accepts the job he is "in for life". Perkins is, at first, hesitant that his actions will not produce a positive result for all affected by his work. He concludes that he can do more good by working from the inside and that he was certainly the exception to the rule in his profession. He was not going to be seduced by money, power, and sex, although he had already been seduced quite completely by Claudine in the Boston Public Library.
Chapter Three - Indonesia Lessons For An EHM
This chapter is basically an extremely brief overview of the history of political dominance in the island nation of Indonesia. Perkins describes the long history of imperial domination by the Dutch who leaders saw Indonesia as the crown jewel in their empire because of its spices and rich fabrics. Early in the 20th century the Dutch finally gave up control over the islands of Indonesia, which began a brief period of independence. A coup in 1965 resulted in Communist forces aligned with the Chinese taking control. American fear of growing Communist powers throughout the world prompted the US government to take action in Indonesia. They came up with a program for providing electric power to Indonesia which would ultimately lead to an ongoing American presence in the region. John's first assignment was to take assessment of the proposed electrification plan. Before setting off, Perkins met Claudine for a private dinner in her apartment. Once there she warned him to never speak of their meetings or that fact that they had ever even met because she would deny it all. He also noted that, in fact, his relationship with Claudine was completely separate from MAIN International and untraceable as all their meetings had occurred in her apartment. Looking back in reflection Perkins sees that his relationship with Claudine was was one the major factors of his break up with his wife Ann.
Chapter Four - Saving A Country From Communism
The ideas and tales surrounding the ancient island nation of Indonesia enchanted John Perkins. He could not wait to experience first hand the exotic spices and women in elaborate colorful costumes. When he did arrive, however, he was confronted with a very different reality. The stuff of the stories was present but it was coupled with astounding poverty and filth. He mentions black rivers and cardboard housing for a large segment of the Indonesian population of Jakarta. The group of engineers and economists from MAIN International were all escorted to a posh dinner in the penthouse of the nicest hotel in Jakarta, where they were to live for three months while carrying out their mission. Charlie Illingworth, the project manager, is described as a war connoisseur. He collected memorabilia and read book after book documenting accounts from all kinds of wars throughout history. He explains that the mission is to provide electricity to Java, the most populous place in the world. Of course there was also a mission behind the mission which was to keep Communism out of the island nation and provide all the electricity related infrastructure required for oil extraction, production, and exportation.
American corporations would be funded to provide the design and labor for the entire project, which would bring many westerners to the nation and it would also help to build a relationship between the Indonesian government and the American businessmen. America would then doubly benefit by obtaining oil from newly efficient Indonesian producers. Perkins, although on board with the mission, had trouble sleeping because he understood that his colleagues and his goals were selfish and greedy. He could see that electricity and the promotion of capitalism would not benefit the majority of Indonesian. It would make a few men at the top of the population pyramid rich and force everyone else deeper into debt, despair, and poverty.
Chapter Five - Selling My Soul
The group of eleven men spent about one week in the capital city of Jakarta before Charlie made the decision to move the group to a smaller city in order to escape the constant distractions of the metropolis of Jakarta. The men visited the embassy and got all the necessary paperwork for their stay in Indonesia in order. Then they were moved to Bandung, into a Dutch colonial style villa. They were given a full staff of various servants in the villa and they each had an off road vehicle with a private driver and translator at their disposal. Charlie explained that the first few weeks were for gathering data, then the economic projection for growth would be made, which would allow the engineers to design and build the necessary components of an electrical system that would supply the power to the region. Charlie stressed over and over again the importance of favorable economic forecasts, which made John understand his critical nature to the project as a whole.
One of the men on the team was an older gentleman that was the chief load forecaster for the New England Electric System. Howard Parker is described as a bitter old man who never was able to reach his own career goals. He and John had a conversation about the plausibility of such a rosy economic forecast. The conversation upsets Perkins because Howard accuses him of being in it for the money and cooking the numbers for the benefit of a few. After much internal deliberation, Perkins comes to the conclusion that even if he held the company line and made predictions that were designed to please his employers rather than accurately predict the economic growth of the region, it would be no problem because Howard would make accurate predictions and the company would prefer his because of his seniority and rank. John Perkins slept well thinking he had solved his own dilemma. The next morning however, Howard Parker is struck ill with a severe amoebic attack and is forced to return to the United States.