An expose of the United States foreign policy; on their unsavory methods to undermine other countries financially to attain leverage on them with duress. The means by which leverage is attained, lies with the two "international financial institutions" (IFI's). The institutions were founded in 1945 during the genesis of the United Nations as "do-good" enterprises. The IMF would assist countries trying to keep their currencies tied to the dollar under the terms of the 1944 Bretton Woods Agreement. The World Bank would lend money at low interest rates gathered from the rich countries to help poor countries get off their backs.
Over the years, the process has become corrupt, with both the IMF and World Bank becoming controlled by the multinational corporations and their banks. When President Nixon went off the gold standard in 1971, the IMF's reason for existence evaporated, because Bretton Woods and the fixed dollar went up in smoke. Now the problem for the big banks like Chase Manhattan, Citicorp and the Bank of America became two-fold:
1) As surplus dollars accumulated in their reserves and there were no credit-worthy Americans wanting to borrow, the banks had to think of ways to lend the money abroad or it would sit in their vaults earning zip, which means it really is losing money as the paper dollar - freed from its gold anchor - was inflating and losing purchasing power. Citigroup's Walter Wriston came up with the idea that the surplus should be loaned to poor countries, even though they had no collateral, because governments had to pay off their hard-currency loans or lose their international credit ratings.
2) If the countries that borrowed from Chase or Citicorp could not pay back interest or principle and did not worry about stiffing the private bankers, they would have to swallow the non-performing loans. The solution was to have the IMF, looking for something to justify its existence, step in to collect the debt. All it had to do was persuade the U.S. Congress to ante up billions of taxpayer dollars to fill their coffers. They could then go to the deadbeat country and say, "We will give you this money so you can pay Chase and Citicorp what you owe them, but you will have to raise taxes on your own people and devalue your currency as the conditions for the loan"
This book is an account by Mr. Perkins a foot soldier in these operations of the Evil Empire. In extension Mr. Perkins does identifies Bechtel Corporation and Halliburton as agents in this quiet conspiracy to make sure the good old USA flourishes, at the expense of relentless impoverishment of the poorest countries of the world. In his book Confessions of an Economic Hit Man he describes how as a highly paid professional, he helped the U.S. cheat poor countries around the globe out of trillions of dollars by lending them more money than they could possibly repay and then taking over their economies.
The scam: Mr. Perkins worked for was a company named Chas. T. Main in Boston, Massachusetts. He was responsible for giving loans to other countries, much bigger than they could possibly repay. One of the conditions of the loan is that they would then have to give ninety percent of that loan back to a U.S. company, or U.S. companies, to build the infrastructure - a Halliburton or a Bechtel. These companies would then go in and build an electrical system or ports or highways, and these would basically serve just a few of the very wealthiest families in those countries. The poor people in those countries would be stuck ultimately with this amazing debt that they couldn't possibly repay. A country today like Ecuador owes over fifty percent of its national budget just to pay down its debt. And it really can't do it. So, we literally have them over a barrel. So, when we want more oil, we go to Ecuador and force them to provide us with access to our oil companies your Amazon rain forest, which are filled with oil. The entire loan with interest finds its way back into the Unites States indirectly, while the host country is left with the debt plus lots of interest, and they basically become our servants, our slaves.
Panama: In 1903 with the mammoth effort to build the Panama Canal underway; the United States under Theodore Roosevelt demanded Columbia to sign a treaty turning the isthmus over to a North American consortium. Columbia refused; Roosevelt sent in the marines; who removed a popular commander and declared Panama an independent nation. A puppet government was installed and the first canal treaty was signed; it established an American economic zone on both sides of the waterway. The country was ruled by an oligarchy of wealthy families with strong connections to Washington. A coup overthrew Arnulfo Arias; the last in the parade of puppet dictators and Omar Torrijos emerged as the head of the state. Torrijos was highly regarded by the Panamian middle and lower class as the champion for the people. His fate was an assassination at the hands of CIA.
Guatemala: The United Fruits Company had been Guatemala's political equivalent of the Panama Canal. Founded in the 1880s, United Fruit grew into one of the most powerful forces in Central America. During the 1950s, reform candidate Jacob Arbenz was elected president of Guatemala in an election hailed all over the hemisphere as a model of the democratic process. At the time less than 3% of Guatemalans owned 70% of the land. Arbenz promised to help the poor dig their way out of starvation, and after his election he implemented a comprehensive land reform program. The United Fruit Company opposed these measures; since they were the largest and the most oppressive land owners in the country. The company in retaliation launched a public relations campaign in the United States; aimed at convincing the American public and congress that Arbenz was part of a Communist plot and Guatemala had become a Soviet satellite. In 1954, the CIA orchestrated a coup; American pilots bombed Guatemala City and the democratically elected Arbenz was overthrown; replaced by Cornel Armas a ruthless ally of America.
Saudi Arabia: A deal was worked out with Saudi Arabia, whereby the Royal House of Saud agreed to send most of their petro-dollars back to the United States and invest them in U.S. government securities. The Treasury Department would use the interest from these securities to hire U.S. companies to build Saudi Arabia new cities, new infrastructure which we've done. And the House of Saud would agree to maintain the price of oil within acceptable limits to us, which they've done all of these years and in return the United States were the guarantors of power remaining in the House of Saud. And in Iraq we tried to implement the same policy that was so successful in Saudi Arabia, but Saddam Hussein didn't buy. When the economic hit men fail in this scenario, the jackals move in. Jackals are C.I.A.-sanctioned people that come in and try to foment a coup or revolution. If that doesn't work, they perform assassinations. Or try to. In the case of Iraq, they weren't able to get through to Saddam Hussein. So the third line of defense, if the economic hit men and the jackals fail, the next line of defense is to send in the marines to invade the country.
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Confessions of an Economic Hit Man, 3rd Edition
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This title will be released on February 28, 2023.
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From the Publisher
About John Perkins
As Chief Economist at a major international consulting firm, John Perkins advised the World Bank, United Nations, IMF, U.S. Treasury Department, Fortune 500 corporations, and countries in Africa, Asia, Latin America, and the Middle East. He worked directly with heads of state and CEOs of major companies, and his books on economics and geo-politics have sold more than 1 million copies, spent many months on the New York Times and other bestseller lists, and are published in over 30 languages.
The New Confessions of an Economic Hit Man
The latest version of this shocking bestseller!
In this astonishing tell-all book, former economic hit man (EHM) John Perkins shares new details about the ways he and others cheated countries around the globe out of trillions of dollars. Then he reveals how the deadly EHM cancer he helped create has spread far more widely and deeply than ever in the United States and everywhere else—to become the dominant system of business, government, and society today. Finally, he gives an insider view of what we each can do to change it.
- Expanded edition with 15 new chapters
- Detailed chronology documenting EHM activity since the first edition was published in 2004
- Exclusive insider views from John Perkins
Touching the Jaguar: Transforming Fear into Action to Change Our Lives and the World
Coming soon! As a young Peace Corps volunteer dying in Ecuador, John Perkins was saved by a shaman who taught him to “touch the jaguar”—to change his perception of what he feared and transform it into energy for positive action. Then he became an “economic hit man,” convincing developing countries to build huge projects that put them perpetually in debt to the World Bank and other US-controlled institutions—a new form of colonialism. Returning to the Amazon and seeing the damage foreign companies had done opened his eyes to the destructive impact of his work. In this book coming in the summer of 2020, Perkins details the powerful influence shamanism had on his transformation to decolonizer. He discusses his work with native people in Latin America and provides a strategy for us to overcome our fears, decolonize our minds, and collaborate in new ways to heal the wounds inflicted on our planet.
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Rating is for the condition of the book. I bought it used, but this one had been immersed in coffee or some type of liquid then dried.
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truth be told
The shocking truth about US 'aid'.
Reviewed in the United Kingdom 🇬🇧 on November 2, 2021Carol
For me this is proved to be an interesting good read. I had heard about this stuff he ...
Reviewed in the United Kingdom 🇬🇧 on August 29, 2016Mr Q
Bless me father for I have sinned !!
Reviewed in the United Kingdom 🇬🇧 on January 30, 2012awais z
Brilliant book about the global power game
Reviewed in the United Kingdom 🇬🇧 on March 7, 2020Amazon Customer
I've experienced similar insights to John
Reviewed in the United Kingdom 🇬🇧 on July 26, 2016
