Hoodwinked: An Economic Hit Man Reveals Why the World Financial Markets Imploded--and What We Need to Do to Remake Them (Hardcover)

~ (Author)

Editorial Reviews

Review

 "John Perkins has been in and out of the world of high finance and low ethics, and in Hoodwinked he not only illuminates that world with dramatic stories and keen insights, but suggests what we might do to create a better society."
—Howard Zinn, bestselling author of A People's History of the United States
 
"Another thriller from the master storyteller with an insider view. Perkins takes us once again into the dark netherworld of corrupt bankers and economic hit men who lure the unsuspecting into financial ruin and reveals the connection between the folks who for decades enriched themselves at the expense of the world's poor and those who now reap billions at the expense of America. Same people, same scams."
—David Korten, author of Agenda for a New Economy and The Great Turning, and board chair of YES! magazine

"John Perkins' engaging narrative draws us into a brilliant analysis of capitalism's shadow side, and points us to a hopeful path to a better future. Hoodwinked is a must-read for anyone who cares about our economic welfare, social justice, and our collective well-being."

—DANIEL GOLEMAN, bestselling author of Emotional Intelligence and Ecological Intelligence 
 
Acclaim for Confessions of an Economic Hit Man
 
"Here are the real-life details—nasty, manipulative, plain evil—of international corporate skullduggery spun into a tale rivaling the darkest espionage thriller."
—Greg Palast, author of The Best Democracy Money Can Buy
 
"[A] gripping tell-all book."       
—Rocky Mountain News
 
"Astonishing."   
—Boston Herald
 
"A bombshell. One of those rare instances in which someone deeply entrenched in our governmental/corporate imperialist structure has come forward to reveal in unequivocal terms its inner workings. A work of great insight and moral courage."
 —John E. Mack, Harvard professor and Pulitzer Prize–winning author of A Prince of Our Disorder: The Life of T. E. Lawrence
 
"Stunning and groundbreaking. . . . A must-read for anyone who cares about the world."
—Lynne Twist, global activist and author of the bestselling The Soul of Money
 
"With unflinching honesty, Perkins narrates his moral awakening and struggle to break free from the corrupt system of global domination he himself helped to create. This book . . . comes from the heart. I highly recommend it."
—Michael Brownstein, author of World on Fire

Product Description

John Perkins has seen the signs of today's economic meltdown before. The subprime mortgage fiascos, the banking industry collapse, the rising tide of unemployment, the shuttering of small businesses across the landscape are all too familiar symptoms of a far greater disease. In his former life as an economic hit man, he was on the front lines both as an observer and a perpetrator of events, once confined only to the third world, that have now sent the United States—and in fact the entire planet—spiraling toward disaster.
 
Here, Perkins pulls back the curtain on the real cause of the current global financial meltdown. He shows how we've been hoodwinked by the CEOs who run the corporatocracy—those few corporations that control the vast amounts of capital, land, and resources around the globe—and the politicians they manipulate. These corporate fat cats, Perkins explains, have sold us all on what he calls predatory capitalism, a misguided form of geopolitics and capitalism that encourages a widespread exploitation of the many to benefit a small number of the already very wealthy. Their arrogance, gluttony, and mismanagement have brought us to this perilous edge. The solution is not a "return to normal."
 
But there is a way out. As Perkins makes clear, we can create a healthy economy that will encourage businesses to act responsibly, not only in the interests of their shareholders and corporate partners (and the lobbyists they have in their pockets), but in the interests of their employees, their customers, the environment, and society at large.

We can create a society that fosters a just, sustainable, and safe world for us and our children. Each one of us makes these choices every day, in ways that are clearly spelled out in this book.
 
"We hold the power," he says, "if only we recognize it." Hoodwinked is a powerful polemic that shows not only how we arrived at this precarious point in our history but also what we must do to stop the global tailspin.

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Product Details

• Hardcover: 256 pages
• Publisher: Broadway Business (November 10, 2009)
• Language: English
• ISBN-10: 0307589927
• ISBN-13: 978-0307589927
• Product Dimensions: 8.3 x 5.6 x 1.1 inches
• Shipping Weight: 12.8 ounces (View shipping rates and policies)
• Average Customer Review: 4.3 out of 5 stars  See all reviews (3 customer reviews)
• Amazon.com Sales Rank: #519 in Books (See Bestsellers in Books)

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Customer Reviews

Most Helpful Customer Reviews

5 of 6 people found the following review helpful:

5.0 out of 5 stars Hoodwinked Truly Revelatory, November 10, 2009

By	nettie hartsock "nettie" (Austin, TX) - See all my reviews

If there is only one book you read in the next month to understand on a very deep level what has happened to our nation and our financial market, you must read this one.

Perkins, author of the previous "Confessions of an Economic Hitman" has created a gripping, astonishing and purposeful book. If you only read the chapter on "Modern Robber Barons" the book will well worth the investment. Are you at all curious about the 355 billionaires in the United states? You should be.

This book is not only a powerful and stunning story, but it also offers great hope and actionable ideas for change in the future. Perkins invokes all citizens to honor their passions, create a sustainable future, stop the corporatocracy and stop the enslavement of debt.

A Must-Read. Confessions of an Economic Hit Man

4 of 5 people found the following review helpful:

5.0 out of 5 stars The Inexact Science, November 12, 2009

By	David A. Mccrae "xstek99" (Western Hemisphere, mostly) - See all my reviews (REAL NAME)

Amazon Verified Purchase

I was looking forward to John's new book and received it wirelessly on my kindle on 10 November while I slept. Why Not? We live in a world of plenty now, and we are all connected. In 'Confessions' and 'Empire' John has laid out his ideas about how our economic system is working, in this current variant, and now (on 12 November 2009), we have even more useful information visible to us for analysis. So I stopped what I was doing and read John's latest report from the front.
I've made my living in exact sciences, and have always had some (contempt?) for the inexact sciences, such as economics, sociology, etc. With some spreadsheets, some scenarios, some WHAT-IFs, and a pack of powerpoint slides, you can make a convincing case for just about anything you wish. In the exact sciences, when we have some curiosity, we try to study an extreme case, and discover an insight into a general condition. If THIS, then THAT.
John opens his book with a trip to Iceland, to visit an extreme case of Friedman-style economic development applied to a bounded system, and finds conditions somewhat as expected. The gold is gone, the remaining inhabitants have a lower quality of life, the steamroller of development has moved on to greener pastures. This 'mutant strain' of economics that we have nurtured over the last 40 years or so, has indeed proved unfruitful. We have built a world of plenty, and we have engendered huge concentrations of wealth for a few, who cannibalize each other remorselessly, but- we would only need about five to seven planet earths, fully populated with complete resource kits, to maintain our present course. I drive around in my neighborhood, look at the foreclosure signs, wonder where all the people went...is this a good course? Are we headed in the right direction?
John's books remain the most hopeful signs out there, like a compass in a storm. We have the power, individually, to structure the world we live in with our own choices, every day. A committee won't save us. This earth is sufficient for our needs; besides, it's the only one we've got.

4 of 9 people found the following review helpful:

3.0 out of 5 stars And In This Corner, November 11, 2009

By	Og8ys1 - See all my reviews

Amazon Verified Purchase

We have the weighing in at 98 lbs dressed in Red and Yellow John "The Hammer and Sickle" Keynes facing off against, weighing in at 2000 lbs dressed in Red White and Blue, Milton "The Elephant In The Room" Friedman.

I read the book in one sitting and found it so black and white that it left me with a feeling of hopelessness that I am sure that most of the readers of this book feel (for why else would we buy it). The history lessons in part one of the book will be all too familiar to anyone who has an interest in this subject, as the author presented nothing shocking or remotely new. It was dumb downed for the reader and maybe that is half the problem. We, Americans, are uneducated in most aspects of the world that surrounds us.

While Part II of the book makes attempts to provide some solutions it comes around to individuals to make the changes and I just don't see that happening. The right wing "corporatocracy" will hold it grip on us until he chokes the life out of us. He points out an example of how his daughter spent 400 dollars more on a crib because it is socially the right thing to do. Out of 1000 readers if 1 or 2 new parents choose this route I would be amazed. See it's that simple, although most of us struggle to just meet the financial duties that are crippling us now.

Perkins solutions are as naive as he was once was (self proclaimed) evil. The problem with us is our behavior and behavior can only be changed by education. I wish he would have dug deeper and fleshed out the corruption of our society a little deeper and explain as he points out several times that the media is controlled by so few how this education will be spread if it will mean the death of those spreading it. Sorry if this isn't much of a review, but the book was more frustrating to me than enlightening.

If this is you first delving into this topic the book is perfect, if not skip it because you've read it all before.