Confessions of an Economic Hit Man (ISBN 0-452-28708-1) is a book written by John Perkins and published in 2004. It tells the story of his career with consulting firm Chas. T. Main. Before employment with the firm, he interviewed for a job with the National Security Agency (NSA). Perkins claims that this interview effectively constituted an independent screening which led to his subsequent hiring by Einar Greve, a member of the firm (and alleged NSA liaison) to become a self-described "Economic Hit Man." Confessions of an Economic Hitman John Perkins (b. ... Chas. ... Lieutenant General Keith B. Alexander, 16th and current director of the NSA (2005–). The National Security Agency/Central Security Service (NSA/CSS) is the United States governments cryptologic organization that was officially established on November 4, 1952. ...

According to his book, Perkins' function was to convince the political and financial leadership of underdeveloped countries to accept enormous development loans from institutions like the World Bank and USAID. Saddled with huge debts they could not hope to pay, these countries were forced to acquiesce to political pressure from the United States on a variety of issues. Perkins argues in his book that developing nations were effectively neutralized politically, had their wealth gaps driven wider and economies crippled in the long run. In this capacity Perkins recounts his meetings with some prominent individuals, including Graham Greene and Omar Torrijos. Perkins describes the role of an EHM as follows: ... The United States Agency for International Development (or USAID) is the US government organization responsible for most non-military foreign aid. ... A developing country is a country with low average income compared to the world average. ... Graphical representation of the Gini coefficient The Gini coefficient is a measure of inequality of a distribution of income. ... Henry Graham Greene, OM, CH (October 2, 1904 – April 3, 1991) was a great English playwright, novelist, short story writer, travel writer and critic whose works explore the ambivalent moral and political issues of the modern world. ... Omar Efraín Torrijos Herrera (February 13, 1929 – August 1, 1981) was a Panamanian army officer and the leader of Panama from 1968 to 1981. ...

Economic hit men (EHMs) are highly paid professionals who cheat countries around the globe out of trillions of dollars. They funnel money from the World Bank, the U.S. Agency for International Development (USAID), and other foreign "aid" organizations into the coffers of huge corporations and the pockets of a few wealthy families who control the planet's natural resources. Their tools included fraudulent financial reports, rigged elections, payoffs, extortion, sex, and murder. They play a game as old as empire, but one that has taken on new and terrifying dimensions during this time of globalization. ... The United States Agency for International Development (or USAID) is the US government organization responsible for most non-military foreign aid. ...

The epilogue to the 2006 edition provides a rebuttal to the current move by the G8 nations to forgive Third World debt. Perkins charges that the proposed conditionalities for this debt forgiveness require countries to sell their health, education, electric, water and other public services to corporations. Those countries would also have to discontinue subsidies and trade restrictions that support local business, but accept the continued subsidization of certain G8 businesses by the US and other G8 countries, and the erection of trade barriers on imports that threaten G8 industries. Recent events in Bolivia and Tanzania are cited as examples of the effects of these proposed conditionalities. Group of Eight redirects here. ...

The book's title was also used as the title for an Anti-Flag song in the album For Blood and Empire. In the essay booklet accompanying the album, Perkins writes on EHM's, and the song makes his stance more known to the punk-rock community which otherwise might not have read the book. Anti-Flag is an American political punk band from Pittsburgh, Pennsylvania, consisting of four members: Justin Sane (lead guitar, lead vocals), Chris #2 (bass, vocals), Chris Head (backup guitar, backup vocals), and Pat Thetic (drums). ... For Blood and Empire is the seventh studio album by Anti-Flag. ...

Controversy and Criticism

Perkins's first boss at Chas. T. Main, Einar Greve, initially declared to journalists that "basically [Perkins's] story is true" and that "what John's book says is, there was a conspiracy to put all these countries on the hook, and that happened" [1]. Subsequently, he denied Perkins's allegation that he ever worked as a liaison with the NSA and contradicted other claims made in Perkins's book, stating that Perkins "has convinced himself that a lot of this stuff is true." ^[1]

Some of the book's critics have questioned whether Perkins makes a significant contribution to the debate on global finance and the development of the Third World. For instance, columnist Mark Engler of In These Times, has written that "the actual content of Perkins' admissions proves distressingly thin."^[2] According to the New York Times, "the book's popularity seems driven more by the mix of cloak-and-dagger atmospherics and Mr. Perkins's Damascene conversion" than by insight into "the larger issue of America's role in emerging economies."^[3] In These Times is a biweekly magazine of news and opinion published in Chicago. ... The New York Times is an internationally known daily newspaper published in New York City and distributed in the United States and many other nations worldwide. ...

Columnist Sebastian Mallaby of the Washington Post reacted sharply to Perkins' book^[4]: "This man is a frothing conspiracy theorist, a vainglorious peddler of nonsense, and yet his book, Confessions of an Economic Hit Man, is a runaway bestseller." Mallaby, who spent 13 years writing for the London Economist and wrote a critically well-received biography of World Bank chief James Wolfensohn[2], holds that Perkins' conception of international finance is "largely a dream" and that his "basic contentions are flat wrong."^[4] For instance he points out that Indonesia reduced its infant mortality and illiteracy rates by two-thirds after economists persuaded its leaders to borrow money in 1970. He also disputes Perkins' claim that 51 of the top 100 world economies belong to companies. A value-added comparison done by the UN, he says, shows the number to be 29. ... The Economist is a weekly news and international affairs publication owned by The Economist Newspaper Ltd and edited in London, UK. It has been in continuous publication since September 1843. ... ... James D. Wolfensohn (2003) James Wolfensohn KBE AO (born December 1, 1933) was the ninth president of the World Bank Group. ... is the death of infants in the first year of life. ... World illiteracy rates by country Literacy is the ability to read and write. ...

Other sources, including articles in the New York Times and Boston Magazine as well as a press release issued by the United States Department of State, have referred to a lack of documentary or testimonial evidence to corroborate the claim that the NSA was involved in his hiring to Chas T. Main. In addition, the author of the State Department release states that the NSA "is a cryptological (codemaking and codebreaking) organization, not an economic organization" and that its missions do not involve "anything remotely resembling placing economists at private companies in order to increase the debt of foreign countries."^[5] The New York Times is an internationally known daily newspaper published in New York City and distributed in the United States and many other nations worldwide. ... Boston (almost invariably called Boston magazine and often incorrectly written as Boston Magazine) is a glossy monthly magazine concerning life in the Greater Boston area and has been in publication for more than 40 years. ... The United States Department of State, often referred to as the State Department, is the Cabinet-level foreign affairs agency of the United States government, equivalent to foreign ministries in other countries. ... The German Lorenz cipher machine, used in World War II for encryption of very high-level general staff messages Cryptography (or cryptology; derived from Greek κρυπτός kryptós hidden, and the verb γράφω gráfo write or λεγειν legein to speak) is the study of message secrecy. ...

Critics, including Sebastian Mallaby and the State Department, have also referred to public remarks Perkins has made, as well as previously published books. His published works include books about South American tribal culture that deal with shamanistic techniques for creating self-empowerment, techniques to enhance health and longevity, as well as first hand accounts of metaphysical "travelling" through visions & dream wanderings.[3] Mark Engler questions Perkins's "New Age leanings," and accuses him of "delving into a type of essentialism that, thankfully, has been long banished from university anthropology departments." A shaman doctor of Kyzyl. ... New Age describes a broad movement characterized by alternative approaches to traditional Western culture. ... In philosophy, essentialism is the view, that, for any specific kind of entity it is at least theoretically possible to specify a finite list of characteristics —all of which any entity must have to belong to the group defined. ... Anthropology (from Greek: ἀνθρωπος, anthropos, human being; and λόγος, logos, knowledge) is the study of humanity. ...

The State Department release refers to a presentation at a bookstore, where Perkins allegedly asserted that the US Government was involved in the assassinations of John and Robert F. Kennedy, Martin Luther King Jr., John Lennon and several US senators who died in plane crashes, and expressed concern regarding alleged inconsistencies in the US investigation of the events surrounding the September 11 attacks of 2001. The State Department release therefore identifies Perkins as a conspiracy theorist. In the book, however, Perkins repeatedly emphasizes that the dynamics he describes are systemic and specifically not the result of conspiracy: The World Trade Center on fire The September 11, 2001 attacks were a series of coordinated terrorist attacks against the United States on September 11, 2001. ... A conspiracy theory attempts to attribute the ultimate cause of an event or chain of events (usually political, social, or historical events), or the concealment of such causes from public knowledge, to a secret, and often deceptive plot by a covert alliance of powerful or influential people or organizations. ...

"Although unconscious, deceived, and - in many cases - self-deluded, these players were not members of any clandestine conspiracy; rather, they were the product of a system that promotes the most subtle and effective form of imperialism the world has ever witnessed."

References

Additional Interviews and Opinions

Positive:

• New Confessions and Revelations from the World of Economic Hit Men, John Perkins, 2007-03-15.
• John Perkins talks about his book with NOW's David Brancaccio (video), 2005-03-04.
• Confessions of an Economic Hit Man: How the U.S. Uses Globalization to Cheat Poor Countries Out of Trillions, Interview with Amy Goodman, Democracy Now!, 2004-11-09.
• In hock to Uncle Sam, The Guardian, Nick Lezard, 2006-02-10.
• Recipe for empire, New Statesman, March 6, 2006, Paul Kingsnorth
• The sinister side of U.S. biz; Confessions of an Economic Hit Man by John Perkins, The Capital Times (Madison, Wisconsin), July 29, 2005, By Judie Kleinmaier

Negative:

• Incapable catharsis, The Weekend Australian, February 18, 2006, Matthew Bright
• Hit and Miss; There are good reasons "the mainstream media" has ignored John Perkins' Confessions of an Economic Hit Man., East Bay Express (California), February 1, 2006.
• Undermining poor nations in the name of profit, The Boston Globe, February 08, 2006, by Michael Langan
• A miss not a hit, Sunday Times (London), March 5, 2006, David Charters

Mixed:

• Conscience, confession from an agent of greed, The Seattle Times, January 22, 2006, Steve Weinberg
• A hit man repents, The Guardian, 2006-01-28.