Published in 2004 by Berrett-Koehler Publishers (Paperback: 264 pages, ISBN-13: 978-1576753011). Updated editions include a 2005 expanded version and a 2011 anniversary edition with new material on the global financial crisis.
Overview: John Perkins, a former economist and self-described "economic hit man" (EHM), delivers a gripping memoir exposing the shadowy tactics used by corporations, governments, and international financial institutions to exert control over developing nations. Recruited in the 1970s by the U.S.-based engineering firm Chas. T. Main through the National Security Agency (NSA), Perkins spent three decades traveling the world—primarily in Latin America, the Middle East, and Southeast Asia—convincing leaders of countries like Ecuador, Indonesia, and Saudi Arabia to accept massive loans for infrastructure projects from bodies like the World Bank and USAID. These deals, he reveals, were rigged: The loans funded projects that enriched U.S. contractors while saddling nations with unpayable debt, forcing them into concessions like resource access, military alliances, or policy shifts favoring American interests. When persuasion failed, "jackals" (CIA operatives) or military coups followed.
Key Themes:
- Corporate Imperialism and Debt as a Weapon: Perkins likens EHMs to assassins who "hit" economies, turning sovereign nations into U.S. puppets without firing a shot. He details how this "corporatocracy"—a fusion of government and multinationals—prioritizes profit over people, fueling inequality and environmental destruction.
- Personal Moral Awakening: The narrative traces Perkins' evolution from a wide-eyed recruit seduced by power and wealth to a disillusioned whistleblower. Haunted by the human cost (e.g., the 1960s assassination of Ecuador's President Jaime Roldós), he quits in the early 1990s, founding alternative energy firms and eventually writing to atone.
- Global Ramifications: The book connects these practices to broader issues like the Iraq War, oil dependency, and the 2008 financial meltdown, warning that the system exploits the Global South while eroding democracy at home.
