A Game as Old as Empire: The Secret World of Economic Hit Men and the Web of Global Corruption [Hardcover]

Steven Hiatt (Editor), John Perkins (Introduction)

Book Description

Publication Date: February 28, 2007

John Perkins's sensational New York Times bestseller Confessions of an Economic Hit Man (more than 300,000 sold) revealed just the tip of the iceberg of the secret world of economic hit men and the web of global corruption. Now more economic hit men and investigators tell the whole shocking story.

Editorial Reviews

From the Publisher

Review by Common Ground Magazine
March, 2007
Written by Adrian Zupp

In 2004, John Perkins' Confessions of an Economic Hitman created waves, spoke the unspeakable and became a New York Times bestseller. In it Perkins came clean about how he'd helped US intelligence agencies and multinationals exploit the economies of Third World nations. A Game As Old As Empire - for which he wrote the introduction - is the follow-up, and this time a wide variety of in-the-know authors corroborate and expand upon Perkins' story. And it's frightening stuff.

In plain language - and providing sufficient historical background - we are shown how First Word countries have used "economic hit men," institutions like the World Bank and IMF, coercion and even outright strong-arm tactics to steal from the developing countries - often in collusion with the elites of those countries who are happy to hide their ill-gotten gain in offshore accounts.

A Game As Old As Empire is well referenced, very readable and perversely entertaining. Hard data is combined with first-person narratives and the machinations of international economics are made accessible for the layperson. And the book goes one step further by offering hope and practical advice. The chapter "Global Uprising: The Web of Resistance" by policy-analyst Antonia Juhasz sheds light on how people can change the corruption and help create a better world. There is also an appendix: "Resources for Hope."

With chapters such as "The Human Cost of Cheap Cell Phones" and "Hijacking Iraq's Oil Reserves," Game has a conscience-pricking currency.

This is an important book that should be read by anyone who wants to know how the world is run to the advantage of the wealthy few and the malicious disadvantage of the many poor.

About the Author

STEVEN HIATT has worked as an editor and writer for several Bay Area companies, including Apple Computer, Netscape, Progressive Asset Management, and Stanford Research Institute. He is the editor (with Mike Davis) of Fire in the Hearth: The Radical Politics of Place in America (Verso), and is president of Editcetera, a cooperative of publishing professionals. He and his wife live in San Francisco, California.

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Product Details

• Hardcover: 310 pages
• Publisher: Berrett-Koehler Publishers (February 28, 2007)
• Language: English
• ISBN-10: 1576753956
• ISBN-13: 978-1576753958
• Product Dimensions: 9.3 x 6.3 x 1.3 inches
• Shipping Weight: 1.2 pounds (View shipping rates and policies)
• Average Customer Review: 4.3 out of 5 stars  See all reviews (12 customer reviews)
• Amazon Best Sellers Rank: #343,665 in Books (See Top 100 in Books)

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Customer Reviews

Most Helpful Customer Reviews

99 of 101 people found the following review helpful:

5.0 out of 5 stars Disturbing though Important revelations of World Situation, April 7, 2007

By 

C. Middleton (Australia) - See all my reviews
(REAL NAME)   

This review is from: A Game as Old as Empire: The Secret World of Economic Hit Men and the Web of Global Corruption (Hardcover)

John Perkins' ground breaking expose' of the economic machinations and collusion of multinational corporations, high levels of government and the international banking institutions and their brutal exploitation of third world countries in his popular text Confessions of an Economic Hit Man, sent a ripple of concern through this highly corrupt elite community, however mainstream publishing and media chose to ignore these disturbing confessions, wanting proof other than Perkins text. As Perkins states in his introduction in this sobering and informative text, A Game as Old as Empire,

"Eventually a courageous independent publisher, Berrett-Koehler, took the book on. Confessions success among the public astounded me. During its first week in bookstores it went to number 4 on Amazon.com." (P.2)

Despite being on the New York Times best seller list for 25 weeks, The Times refused to review it. (Much later the book was featured in the Times Sunday Supplement) The fact that the book implicates the highest echelons of government and corporations, including the IMF, WTO, World Bank, U.S.A., Britain and the "G8" countries deeply involved in money laundering, tax evasion and environmental disasters that turns one's stomach, never mentioned in the main stream media, reveals the appalling extent of this corruption.

A Game as Old as Empire is a collection of essays by investigative journalists, EMH's, academics, practicing lawyers, scientists and writers exposing the extent of corruption in the exploitation of developing countries; for example lending billions of dollars, raising debt, knowing full well that particular regimes were pocketing the cash, opening off shore accounts, while the regime's country falls further into abject poverty, then to lend more money, raising debt further...

These essays are terribly disturbing as the greed, destruction and waste is so vast, crippling small countries, causing poverty to become more entrenched to fill the pockets of a Global elitist few and their cronies.

One would logically assume that because of the billions of dollars poured into some third world countries for their development, one would see the benefits of such huge investments. In actual fact, there has been no benefit, because in most cases, the poverty has worsened. Why? Money is loaned to known corrupt regimes that pocket the money and make the money clean through tax loopholes and off shore accounts.

Other reasons are presented such as the trade agreements of the World Trade Organization which makes it impossible for developing countries with debt to produce and export because developed countries, per the WTO agreements, import products into the local market underpricing them, thus making it impossible for the developing country to rise out of debt, let alone make a living.

In this review I've chosen not to write specific examples of this high level corruption as this format, does not allow the space. However, in order to understand the extent that these so-called elites go to... including genocide, crimes against humanity and all out war and occupation in order to ensure access to resources such as oil and other natural resources, read this text because it will make you wonder how and why it has gone on for so long.

Confessions of an Economic Hit Man started the ball rolling in terms of more awareness of the waste and destruction that neo-liberalism and globalization has wrought on developing countries; A Game as Old as Empire is the confirmation and the quintessential wake up call to actually do something about it.

In the last chapter, Global Uprising: The Web of Resistance, Antonia Juhasz writes a compelling piece for all concerned individuals around the globe to do something about this entrenched elitist corruption. The bibliography is extensive and worthy, including a list of important web sites to enhance your knowledge.

Even if you haven't read "Confessions", A Game as Old as Empire will inform, disturb, shock and hopefully stir some of us into action before these elitist corporations, banks and exclusive, corrupt governments go too far...

56 of 56 people found the following review helpful:

4.0 out of 5 stars Weighty, serious reading, April 28, 2007

By 

D. Hodgson (Cupertino, CA United States) - See all my reviews
(REAL NAME)   

This review is from: A Game as Old as Empire: The Secret World of Economic Hit Men and the Web of Global Corruption (Hardcover)

Well, I certainly can't add more to the details of the book than what C. Middleton said, but I would like to say a few words comparing this to the first book, since in many ways it is the successor to John Perkins' entertaining first-person tale, "Economic Hitman".

"Old As Empire" is a collection of stories reporting on the global economic condition that are not far from the type of writing you might see read in Foreign Affairs magazine or Noam Chomsky's books. The tales, which are told in the third-person as often as the first, have little entertainment value; they're almost pure information, revelations of capitalist corruption and warlord dominance that are contemporary and all too relevant in exposing how the world actually works.

If "EHM" felt a bit light and historic, this collection of stories is weighty and newsworthy - but don't go looking for a spy angle on this one. If you're a serious foreign newshound, this is good stuff - but for all the talk of revealing personal stories about "other EHM's", there really aren't many - it's mostly about corruption at the company and government level, rather than a collection of James Bonds doing the bidding of their corporate masters like EHM was.

31 of 32 people found the following review helpful:

4.0 out of 5 stars The Dark Underbelly of International Economics, June 27, 2007

By 

Steven K. Szmutko (EWING, NJ USA) - See all my reviews
(VINE VOICE)    (REAL NAME)   

This review is from: A Game as Old as Empire: The Secret World of Economic Hit Men and the Web of Global Corruption (Hardcover)

In CONFESSIONS OF AN ECONOMIC HIT MAN, John Perkins outlined his 20-year career as agent of the government and multinational corporations as they attempted to (and succeeded in) exploiting lesser-developed countries. That book, published by Berrett-Koehler in 2004, painted a rather gloomy picture of the dark side of globalization - in theory, a worthy endeavor.



A GAME AS OLD AS EMPIRE, edited by Steven Hiatt with an introduction by Mr. Perkins, continues the story of this exploitation, abuse, and waste in the name of "globalization." Let me say - as an aside - that I remain a proponent of globalization within the context of responsible stewardship. Removing barriers to trade, offering educational, vocational, and economic opportunities to men and women of all nations, is a good thing. Done properly, economic development and stewardship offers the possibility of true societal progress, ennobling humanity, enriching lives, nurturing the environment and increasing business activity and profits.



Unfortunately, the reality is far different from the ideal. The shortsightedness and greed of political and leaders - focused only on personal enrichment or the next quarter's operating results - leads to a culture of global exploitation. The pattern is familiar: special interests descend like locusts, consume everything in their path, and then move on, leaving a wake of destruction, degradation, and despair.



The book presents a compelling exploration of these economic and human abuses through other voices, most of those voices from men and women that participated for a time in the dance of exploitation for their temporal masters. The individual essays focus on a number of issues ranging from the stranglehold of foreign debt, the culture of ineptitude and corruption in many aspects of international banking, and the unconscionable extraction of natural resources (as in the Congo) at the high cost of human life and economic prosperity.



A GAME AS OLD AS EMPIRE is expectedly one-sided in that it shows only the abuse and corruption of international economics. There are many businesses that operate with high-principles and integrity (while maintaining high earnings for both its management as well as other constituents). However, the book serves an important purpose in that it shows that all is not sunshine and roses in the global economy. There is corruption, waste, incompetence, and short-sightedness that is unacceptable from not only a human standpoint, but from a business valuation perspective as well. I would recommend this book to anyone who seeks to undertake an intelligent study of the state of international economics in the real world.