This is the most awe-inspiring, and provocative book that I've ever read. I've found myself between a couple pages thinking "how could they do that? Why?" This has further heightened my desire to research into the corporation, money, and the manipulation that our "system" relies on every day. Well worth the while. I've started reading his sequel, and it has exceeded my expectations with more info and more interviews and quotes from the hundreds of people that have come forth. Man, just buy it, borrow it, steal it... what ever you have to do to soak in the information that John has to offer. (Try not to steal it...)

For the people who want to know what is hidden behind the fact that America has become so strong over the years, this is the book to read. No conspiracy theories, no spy games, just pure imperialism in the worst manner. I always thought that economic development the Western way was what everyone would want in the world, but I never thought that not everyone is like us, not everyone cares about our materialistic world. And as much as they don't care about us we should not care about them and let them develop the way they want to develop.WATCH ZEITGEIST AND JOIN THE ZEITGEIST MOVEMENT.

I think this is a great book. I had to read different chapters for a class, but I liked it so much I decided to read the whole book. The writing is simple to read and understand, and the message and information within the chapters is powerful and very interesting. Not too many people know about the seedy underside of multinational corporations. This book brings that to light in a way that is interesting.

PRO: At the end of the book, he says you, the reader, are the reason the world is the way it is. After listening to his nonstop bashing of corporations and governments, I expected him to conclude with a final "coup de grace" on those two entities, but I was wrong! He puts the blame where it should be: all of us. We are those people in the corporations and the governments reflect what we want. If we want to blame someone, let's start with ourselves. I commend Perkins for saying that. "Any fool can criticise, and most fools do," said Andrew Carnegie. Those few paragraphs almost took the book to two stars. Unfortunately, the rest of it was terrible.

CONS: Many other reviewers will point out the myriad of flaws and shortcomings of this book. I'll illustrate how Perkins would read all these one star reviews. He would say:

- They're written by jackals, government officials, and corporate hitmen trying to discredit me.
- They're people who are so naive that they don't understand how the real world works. They say this is a fantasy. It's no fantasy, baby, this was real life!

PSYCHOLOGICAL ASSESSMENT OF PERKINS: Perkins is a man filled with regret. He dreamed of living an exciting life, but ended up living just a mediocre one. For example:

- He wanted to go to Ivy League Schools, but went to a ho-hum schools.

- He wanted to be an executive, but he never got beyond middle management.

- He wanted to be a spy for the NSA, but all he got was an interview.

- He wanted to live a glamourous life, but he got all the pedestrian glamour of a typical international corporate job.

- He wanted babes, but he just got a divorce and a few flings.

In short, he feels like a failure. He's frustrated by that so he's decided to reinterpret his whole life, make it more exciting, boost his ego a bit by writing a book that makes his life seem more interesting than it was. He fills it with cloak and dagger intrigue, but there's really nothing there. It's obvious that it's all in his mind.

He depicts himself as an "insider," but offers scant interesting insider stuff. Most of his theories are backed by his daily news source: the NY Times.

His opinion that construction projects drive our economy and decisions is wrong. Foreign infrastructure projects make up less than 1% of the US government budget and not even 0.1% of our economy. Furthermore, he says that "very few" benefit from the new electricity plants we build in Ecuador or Indonesia. Really? So we build a multi-billion dollar plant to power three rich people's homes? Wrong. Thousands of poor people benefit from the roads and electricity plants. That's why they invite us there. Duh! Do we also benefit? Sure! We probably wouldn't do it otherwise! DUH!

The other irritation about this book is that he thinks he's making novel arguments, when they're usually obvious to all. For example, corporatations are self-interested. Wow. I never would have guessed that. Let's add: humans are self-interested. What do you expect Exxon to do? Sell oil for less than it costs them to make it? Do you expect the salesman of a construction firm to not try to get the best deal he can get for his company? Doesn't he want to get a bonus and send his children to a good college?

He whines about people working for a dollar a day in "sweatshops." Are we holding them at gunpoint? No. On the contrary, people in Asia work at Nike's factories to earn their $1 a day for two reasons:

1. It's better than getting 50 cents a day, which is what the local companies pay. Working for a foreign company is PRESTIGIOUS and coveted.

2. Their daily costs are 90 cents a day. Some love to focus on how little people in third world countries make, but they often forget how little it costs them to live. Imagine their conversations about us: "It costs $100/day to live in America. How do they do it? We're much better off here because it costs just 90 cents per day." There are two sides of the equation, Perkins.

CONCLUSION: There were only two reasons I listened to this misleading and overrated book till the end. First, my friend recommended it. Second, I was curious to see what SOLUTION he proposed. It's easy to complain. But what do you think we should do instead?

As I mentioned at the beginning, he places part of the blame on you and me. Great. Well said. Now what? He tells us to drive less. I bet he drives and flies much more than any of us because he's promoting his book. He tell us that we should have a more fair world. That we should have medical services available for all, information should be widespread, and that we should think of the consequences of our actions. Blah... blah.. blah... as you can see: no specifics. Why not? Because it's nobody would like to do what would need to be done. He's asking us to change human nature. Sorry, Perkins, it's ain't going to happen. And Perkins is proof that it won't happen because lives in a nice house, buys food from corporations, votes for the political establishment, doesn't send 50% of his income to third world countries, etc....

Get this if you want to laugh.

You know what the funny thing is about this book?
I doubt that theres very many world leaders or intellectuals who havent either read this book or had a summary of it presented to them.
You can disbelieve the facts presented or disbelieve the conclusions but there is a reason this book is so widely looked at.
The reason is the things he says are both shocking and believable. This is no half baked illuminati conspiracy hes talking about. Its feasible.

Dont buy the negative reviews -you will at MINIMUM be entertained in the extreme. Who would have guessed that James Bond actually looks alot more like John Doe, and doesnt carry a gun. He doesnt have to.

A damn good read.

While Perkins writes about a dark reality of our economy and that of the overall Global Economy, I was frustrated with his multiple battles with his own conscience (usually as he lays on a Caribbean beach) only to get back into the system that has hurt so many. He sheds light on the evils of the IMF and World Bank, but it's hypocrital in that he got his "golden parachute" before exposing the system.

This book hardly talks about economics and instead reads like a bad spy novel. Without proper citation or even a shred of evidence its hard to take anything in this book seriously.

This book is an excellent read and may be quite an eye opener for the masses. It's true to its purpose which is a "confession" drafted to ease ramping guilt by raising awareness of America's far-reaching detrimental corporatocracy.

I found that the facts within this book are easily verifiable as Perkins offers avenues of research, much of which are public-record.

I cracked this book open with the hopes of getting an insider's view of how corporate manipulation of international loans works. Unfortunately, Perkins reveals little except his takeaway from the experience. The overall feeling of the book was not that he wants to educate us on the machine and how it works but rather issue a mea culpa. It's long on feelings and short on detail. I was looking for something more well researched and detailed like "Blackwater" by Scahill which gives a deep account on how corporate players make money from war and the US government. Unfortunately, Perkins was only able to vaguely confirm what I know to be true, leaving me searching the book racks for someone who can explain the nitty gritty to me. I don't recommend it if you want to answer the "hows" of this really big and complex issue.

I enjoyed the way the author tied details of modern history to the events of his life. Very thought provoking. I think it is striking the way the individuals who critique it for a lack of statistics provide none of their own.

I found the book to be interesting from the standpoint of one man's perspective on two decades of US empire building. I have no doubt he believes what he writes and Americans will surely be reviewing with more than a passing glance the foreign policy decisions, past and present.

I can appreciate this author's guilt by his role in "empire building" but he continually dedicates small portions of the books to self reflecting judgment and, more of less, implicates his upbringing, NSA profiling and a myriad of other BS excuses for why he continued to do what he did. Tell the story but please don't defend yourself to me.

A must read book if you ask me! It is well written and you cannot stop reading it until it is finished. Even if only half of the stories are true, I think it opens your eyes to how rich countries (in this case the US) prey on poor nations across the world.

This book lets us know a very important piece of truth about how the world works, in particular how the us works to gain control of other countries. Compulsary for any conscient individual in today's world.

After reading this book I am confused as to why this person want us to believe that he was able to to fool so many people around the world. Does he want us to believe that most of the world cannot see through the Ameican way?

Nothing special about economic indicators, or how to observe the hitmens behavior in economics, but more so a life history of the authers growth in this craft. The book was entertaining, but I wanted information, about the imf, C-banks and so on. So if your looking for an informative educational book one star, if you want entertainment, and to learn about the author 5 stars. Good reading.

The author gives us a rare insight into how the US conducts "foreign policy" that primarily benefits US corporate/conglomerate profit interests. Similar to the US "military-industrial complex" that President Eisenhower warned us about in 1961, the author sounds a warning about how narrow monied interests guide the conduct of foreign "assistance" and "relations" so that the public interests, in both the US and the "target" country are ill-served. This is a MUST READ for American voters and the new generation of elected decision-makers.

there are many great, kind and charitable americans. the presidents and the government represented american....

for years, as now everyone knows that there was no nuclear weapon found in iraq, haliburton is still making great money. people like bush family, dick cheney have a lot to do with this company. they made great money. they were the one declaring war. and they were the ones making friends with the dictators of the world. look where it has got america and the world. i hope McCain will not win. and obviously the lady running mate of his. with all due respect, someone who has little education, and pro-live and pro-gun. imagine the future of america and the world in the hands of these duo.

this book is an eye opener. the view it presented has tied in with the facts i have previously known.

american should care more about the rest of the world and the action of their leaders. indifference can otherwise be very costly

Mr. Perkins has a great thesis and great angst about his role in the world. His thesis is simple - American engineering and oil companies go to third world countries and give hugely inflated estimates of growth potential. Using those inflated numbers, they induce the countries to get loans so they can hire the American companies to do the work. The country then is unable to repay the loan. The theory implicates American companies, the many politicians with ties to them and the World Bank, IMF and other financial institutions.

Unfortunately, Mr. Perkins fails to come up with the proofs. His outline appears feasible, but he never gives any instances of the loan and default portion of the thesis. There is nary a number or statistic to back him up. He does not cite a single defaulted loan.

Further, Mr. Perkins often draws parellels to the American Founders and our Revolution. His grasp of American history is sophomoric at best. He uses a cartoonish image of 1776 that one would expect from an elementary school student, not someone indicting corporations, international banks and presidential administrations.

Mr. Perkins does have some sources and they are noted. Again, they occasionally show his sloppiness with the facts. In one instance, he states with firmness that the Reagan and Bush administrations had been proven to have dirtied their hands in this corporatocracy (his term) scheme. The text said this was proven by testimony. When one checks the note, the testimony was by John Dean in 1973 and 1974 - six and seven years before the Reagan and Bush administrations. Such errors in fact and use of bad history undermine the reader's confidence in the basic theory of the book.

That all having been said, the book does show how America's corporations have gone into Third World countries focused only on their own bottom line. Their is no altruism in the corporate world. This pure greed is aided and abetted by connected politicians.

Most interesting are his accounts of the American-Saudi relationship where the corporate scheme worked with oil money rather than World Bank funds. Although Perkins seemed to criticize the plan, it worked well for both sides. It was a true win-win. Somehow, the author tried to tie in the Saudis' support of terrorism with its modernization and westernization. The parallel did not work - especially since he had given Saudi Arabia's history of being founded by fundamentalist Islamists long before the corporations came in. Mr. Perkins then tried to draw another parallel to Iraq. Unfortunately, he could never explain why the system that worked so well for Saudi Arabia did not work for Iraq.

There are some alarming aspects of this book and it really does read, in parts, like a novel. Alarm is what Mr. Perkins expects to raise with his "Confession". There is a lot to look at behind his accounts. Sadly, Mr. Perkins just did not deliver the goods to prove his points.

I started reading this with some skepticism but it all seemed to add up to me - - believe it or not - up to you, but I think an interesting read and for me, it was credible..

This book is everything I hoped for. Very informational and helpful in understanding how the U.S interferes with other countries and how they are able to do what they do. Even though this is an easy read you should be familiar with the IMF and World Bank to better understand the process.

This is just a commentary on the reviews I'm seeing here. I'm really not sure why or how the one-star crowd finds this such a refutable narrative. If you know the very first thing about how the world bank, central banks in GENERAL and the quantum unit of central banking, being 'fractional reserve lending', then I cannot imagine how any of this seems debatable...! I mean - what exactly do you THINK the World Bank and IMF DO??

If you are interested in understanding how international politics and business go hand in hand through dirty deals, and read interesting real-life stories which proves the points and shows how history is made, then this is the book for you. Those who write that this book lacks credibility because it has few or "vague" facts are obviously just trying to smear it for personal political reasons. This book can easily be compared and ranked with other factual and interesting books like The best democracy money can buy, No Logo, Stupid White Men, Fast Food Nation, etc.

This has got to be one of the best books I've ever read! I knew that we were a capitalistic society, and that politics were seriously corrupt- but I had no idea it was this bad! (I had the general belief that most people have good intentions) This book shows how deeply entrenched the world's problems delve into our very makeup as individuals.

Book was interesting. However, if the situation is true (as author says) why wasn't he "eliminated" as well by jackals?A very good "insider" story of world economic events and US conspiracy from a different viewpoint.

One of my friends suggested me to purchase this book, because it explains a different version of the Economy growth.

I am not sure if all stories told in this book are true, but the author did a good job.

I liked the book, it is an easy reading text that stimulates your curiosity and pushes you to go on.

"Confessions of an Economic Hit Man" is an interesting book that sheds some light on the mafia like global business interactions. Indebting nations, and impoverishing populations resulting in massive misery and death could be justified by an EHM with bogus statistics, and the illusion of hope for a prospective prosperity that will never take place.
When the powerful and the mighty cannot manipulate with threats and money, then they will subjugate with military and war.
However, Perkins's book was a disappointment to me, because writing partial truth is no truth, and writing partial confessions for self-glorification and marketing does not earn Perkins a free ticket out of purgatory. His work as an EHM has cost millions of people their livelihood and lives.
Confession does not mean remorse. Every time Perkins attempted to have an inkling of conscience, money silenced it, and he was back into the rat race where he started.
The information in this book is very limited, that is apparently why Perkins was allowed to publish it.
The book might offer the reader some skewed insight into world affairs.

This was an audiobook I picked up some time ago and didn't get into immediately because it sounded to conspiracy theory-ish. Well, after a recent road trip and coming across a lot of information that confirmed the stories, I must say it is an incredible book that has true stories told from authors personal experience which have actually made me really take a look at my life and lifestyle and change things up. I'd been a libertarian/ free market capitalist proponent and hadn't come across much to make me think there were any options better out there. I still think each of those philosophies has it's place, but our corporations are out of control, and we must all act now to keep them in their place, or stories similar to what is found in this book will likely become more and more prevalent, widespread and harmful.

I am willing to believe that the US Government has done some awful things over the last several decades (in fact, we know they have done). And so, Perkins' story is somewhat plausible. However, in reading it, I did not feel that it has the "Ring of Truth" that I look for in such an account.

Perkins is making some fairly strong accusations/statements about our government. Carl Sagan often said that extraordinary claims require extraordinary evidence, and of course Perkins cannot provide that -- we just have his unverifiable anecdotes. Perkins' narrative is framed in such a dramatic fashion, complete with quotes from conversations from the mid-to-late-seventies, that it feels slightly embellished or re-imagined. He includes details, like people taking significant pauses or how their smiles looked, that simply wouldn't be a part of any journaling/note-taking he would've done at the time. Those are details he's adding for color. And, in a work of this kind, I expect scrupulous attention to the truth.

Despite his unsavory role, Perkins always manages to describe himself as something of a hero in whatever circumstances he finds himself. Locals in every region take to him as being "the American who *gets it*", bring him in and share their secrets with him without reservation. It's too convenient. Perkins' NSA-ish contact, Claudine, is straight out of a Bond film. Why would the NSA put so much trust in a Peace Corps. volunteer with a BA in Business Management? Perkins says it's because his NSA screening test showed him to be dissolute enough to make the grade, but I imagine that there are a host of low-moral college kids that the government wouldn't bring in to the innermost cabals, straight out of school. Also, Perkins insists that Economic Hit Man is an actual job title... it makes no sense; usually, positions that people want to keep hidden are given *euphemisms* not titles that make them sound more incendiary than they actually are. Nixon's thugs were called "plumbers," not "political hit men," and actual hit men sometimes call themselves "cleaners" or such. Perkins' details seem off.

Finally, if we buy into the least part of Perkins' tales, we have to realize that he's admitting to the following: that he has for the greater part of his life acquired wealth and status by lying to people's faces, time and time again. I understand that people can change, and maybe Perkins has, but I think we must be open to the possibility that... he might be willing to lie for a buck just one more time.

I give this book one star because, while it's readable and enjoyable, and has some good information inside... I don't think it's honest. And a book of this kind must be honest, or it is worse than worthless -- it is a travesty.

John Perkins gives a good account of his understanding of how the building blocks of empire in this new age of global finance is achieved. There is one question that I tried to answer throughout the book, but could not find the answer. John seems to feel very guilty, and attempts to purge his sins with this book. ¿Are his economic "hits" just the tip of the iceberg? For that I'll have to wait to finish reading Chalmers Johnson's book Nemesis. John fails to deliver the broader vision that Chalmers does into the working of empire building and its relation to the failing republic.

John Perkins reveals his hits in the economic arena. The book narrates nicely with good description of events, places and conversations. However, it is loaded with fantasies, silly scenarios and unbelievable events. This book has no facts, when facts must have been the backbone of such allegations.
When I started reading it, I though that it might be a good read like "Fundamentalist World: The New Dark Age of Dogma" by Stuart Sim who talks about the the economic fundamentalism of the World Bank. However, I was totally disappointed by the:
1)Lack of facts
2)Missing to tell us how he could convince other economists who were reviewing his work and did not agree on his economic growth arguments. What were his arguments against theirs?
3)His conversations with different locals and his apologetic behaviour through out the book
4)The fact that he told Claudine (his coach) that he will someday reveal all and she did not even rise an eyebrow. Logically, she would contact her superiors and terminate Mr. Potential Hitman.
5)On one hand he says that the House of Saud does what it sees appropriate and does not tolerate other Saudis refusing the mentioned deal/contract with the States, and on the other hand he had to buy a Saudi through providing him with blondes.
6)Other and other pieces in his narrative that makes the whole story seems not related to his true life.
I stopped reading at page 98.
This economic hit man thing might be a factual thing, but it definitely did not have John Perkins on its payroll.

Have you ever wondered how the world really, really, really works? Perkins attempts to show insight into the secretive world of global finance, emphasis on markets, and the quest for American Empire.

I really wanted to love this book, yet at times it felt more than a bit shallow. It is hard to know what is true and what may be distorted. Perhaps Perkins cannot come completely clean.

Having lived abroad for several years in the 1990's I can attest to the "Ugly-American" syndrome, and how some have contempt for foreign cultures.

Debt burden and the rise of the Corporatocracy are true and attestable. If you don't believe it, search for "Project for a new American Century" on Google. Take a look at the membership, and you will find many of the cast of characters within Perkins book.

Remember, "The greatest trick the Devil ever performed, is convincing the world he doesn't exist."

Cheers!

Although this book is a highly self-centred and personal account of his role in the "corporatocracy", Perkins' account is an eye-opener and a great introduction into the current state of our world. Perkins has been criticised for publically airing his guilt over his actions, however this is his way of coming to terms with his actions. I don't believe this is fair criticism, as this book is a personal account. It is engaging because it is about John Perkins. It's like criticising an apple for being an apple. However, I do admit that including a three page resume about himself was a bit much. That's way too much ego! That said, I would still recommend this book to people seeking answers to why the world is in the state that it's in, and for anyone else in fact!

Confessions of an Economic Hit Man is an extraordinary story of a modern man facing his inner demons, with the backdrop of a world gone mad. Highly recommended!

This is one of the worst books I have read in a long time. All his mistakes in life are someone elses fault (ie, his parents, school, wives, employer,etc.) It amazes me he stayed with the organization for 3 decades and FINALLY decided it was evil. He takes no responsibility for his actions. Sour grapes to me.

During college I came across numerous critiques and debates over the negative aspects of globalization on "emerging countries" in how often times quality of life is worsened, not improved for the local populous. In this respect, Perkins's insights are not revolutionary. However, his discussion of how unchecked personal greed leads to the intertwining of political and financial interests to create a new global empire is fascinating. This new global empire, deemed the "corporatocracy", seeks to advance the interests of unbridled capitalism (read: corporate greed) through a combination of economic and military pressures. What's truly fascinating, and frankly shocking, is that this omnipresent greed is often not the work of handful conspirators, but rather the product of a system that equates materialism and consumption with economic and social development. That's not to say there aren't appalling examples of cloak and dagger conspiracies and purposeful manipulations, such as American support of the House of Saud, the Panamanian invasion, support for the Iranian Shah, and Halliburton in Iraq, but the truly sickening examples are the pervasive and far more subtle manipulations engendered by a system driven by consumption. This book exposes how special interest groups manipulate perception to advance personal interests at the expense of long-term national security and global stability.

This book is not "political" in the sense that it is a criticism of the current administration, or favors Democrats over Republicans, but rather is an indictment of all drivers of global empire, which includes government, media, and finance heads across the political spectrum. Moreover, this is not a criticism of America as some might suggest. It is a criticism of a perversion of the American ideals of freedom, equality, and the pursuit of happiness with the pursuit of ever-increasing consumption. This consumption fuels our need for natural resources, which in turn drives our foreign and economic policies leading to corruption and abuse of our power as the world's sole Super Power. It helps illuminate how this abuse has created many of America's enemies, because our dependence on foreign resources has forced us to create this global empire with little regard for those we seek to bring into our spheres of influence. This unsustainable empire building poses far greater risks to the U.S. than any individual terrorist or rogue nation threat because it is this reckless imperialism that destroys empires. Confessions of an EHM is essential reading to understand how the greed of our past continues to drive the current geopolitical instability. Open your eyes to prevent history repeating itself for the next generation!

Why has America's prestige in the world fallen? Why is our country being criticized? This book's title is sensational-appearing but the subject is serious. The issues raised aren't hype they are happening today.
Mr. Perkins' experiences relate closely to my observations as a national finance and banking executive in this country. The methods that he desribes ring true to what I have witnessed.
What should have been obvious to me, in the international setting, was made clear by John Perkin's book with the "film noir" title.
Please read, share and debate this very readable book.

I avoided reading this book for a long time because of the sensational-appearing title and reviews. The issues raised, however, aren't hype. The author relates experiences that are similar in method to what I have observed during my national financial and banking career in our own country.
What should have been obvious to me, as applied to the international setting, was made clear by John Perkin's book with the "film noir" title.
Please read, share and debate this very readable book.

I wanted to like this book. And I'm really a pushover for conspiracy and behind the scene shenanigans. But by page 6, I was done. There are little things that give away a lie, i.e. inappropriate self references that sound like puffery and macho sounding titles that no actual business or agency would use. And an overall sense of vacuousness as though words are just as good as reality.

Also, making conclusions about the most innocuous events based upon a stereo-typical liberal immaturity: hatred of America and anything that relates to morals (interesting how those 2 things always are found in the same person) He used the words puritan, prudish or moralistic several times in the first 3 pages of text. Few words expose a person like those do.

Thank you John Perkins for your insight into what the American Empire is doing to the world. It's refreshing to take a break from the TV network propaganda and get some real scoop about our own country. In fact, one of my favorite parts of your book is the following: "...We have such difficulty listening to the real story. We prefer to believe the myth that thousands of years of human social evolution has finally perfected the ideal economic system, rather than to face the fact we have merely bought into a false concept and accepted it as gospel". Because you see, Mr. Perkins, your description of the immense subtlety involved in the economic hit man business is the very cunning process referred to in Alexis De Tocqueville's book, "Democracy in America" when he writes that civilization has perfected despotism. This process is better explained in the book, Don't Weep for Me, America: How Democracy in America Became the Prince (While We Slept) May everyone read your book, and may everyone understand that the details are not the point.

I don't doubt the main premise behind this book: the world financial market and leading financial institutions seek to dominate emerging markets to maximize profit for their own gain. I also don't deny the very real historical facts covered in places such as Latin America and Indonesia. But to call this piece of work "history" is a farce.


The picture Perkins of himself seems part Bourne, part Bond. It is fanciful, generalized, and darkly romantic. It lacks the unmistakable flavor of truth.

In his Q & A that follows the novel, he responds to whether or not he fears for his life since he divulged so much information. To which he replies (and to paraphrase), his death would lead to more copies of his book being sold, thus more publicity about the evil empire seeking to crush the little people of this world.

The British wore their empire proudly, we as Americans try to deny our dark side. Whether you finally choose to play down this dark side or come to the conclusion that things must change, you should at least read this insider's story and weigh his conclusions.

What this story reveals is painful at times, but Perkins writes with an engaging and deeply personal style. What some reviewers are interpreting as egoistic actually is breaking new ground. His work is a twist on the traditional Calvinistic "confessional" tract: a call for a secular spirituality that can embrace and make demands on capitalism for the sake of democracy.

It is hard not to feel jealous of Perkins, however, as he travels the globe with all his power, money, and privilege. It is as if he is a successful Faust: he made his bargain with the devil and yet has never had to pay his pound of flesh.

Perhaps he has now made a bargain with the Light Side to speak and write and lead us all to find a better way. He's got his work cut out for him, since most of us participate in some way in the present system. We all need conversions. I basically trust the guy, but each reader must reach his/her own very personal judgments about his story.

The way to read his story is with an open mind and heart: does what he is saying help to explain things you have read and seen? What defensive reactions are you experiencing and why? What inner work do you need to do to free yourself from the mentalities of empire? Or would you rather go on denying, willing to make the compromises of a hitman even though the world has had enough of that game?

Or, perhaps, his piece of the puzzle is too dark, too one-sided, or not exactly what we need as a world right now? Is the truth too hard to stomach, or can it motivate us to change? Those who disagree with Perkin's call to change need to come up with their own way to understand the failures of the West in our engagements around the world. The statistics of failure are too stark. The cries of anger and pain are too clear.

Just as our international corporations have pillaged other countries, this same corporations-government has blatantly pillaged us in Iraq. I was deeply offended as an American citizen by the irresponsible "use" of money. Their(our) behavior made it clear to me before I even read this book that this was business as usual for them, so I was not surprised by John's confession. Much of what John reveals is actually crying out in the newspapers and around us day after day.

Ultimately, this is a book about spirituality. If we reflect deeply on what each of us have experienced, read, seen, and know about the present state of our society, and our corporate, governmental, and institutional culture, we have to admit that we have slid down the wrong track over the last decades and need to embrace change with courage, a clean heart, and a new commitment to our deepest principles and values.

I picked up the book in Abu Dhabi, where it was prominently displayed in that corpotacracy Western cultural imperialist bastion the "Virgin Megastore"... in Abu Dhabi Mall (built by Australian imperialist construction firms!!!)

While I found part of the book interesting (he is a good storyteller, and his accounts of Trujillo in Panama in particular are fascinating) the book was incredibly disappointing as a whole.

This is due primarily to:

1. The lack of any substantive facts about his "EHM" work or the results of it, for which we are left to simply take him at his word;
2. His deeply self-centered and dangerously oversimplified notions of how the world economy works, colored with further personal narratives of dubious factual quality and very weak sourcing; and
3. The relentless self-aggrandizing and redemption-seeking that just kills the style and completely erodes his credibility.

As a memoir naturally whole book is about the author, John Perkins, but this does not keep him from including an additional 4-page timeline of his life and his achievements, and 3 more pages about... himself. I mean, this guy has such an ego I am certain having lunch with him would be a nightmare, just from reading the book.


Throughout the whole book, Perkins dubiously links himself to major world events, another reflection of his pathologically self centered world-view.

In the chapter "Pimping and Financing Osama bin Laden", he somehow links his brief and negligible work in Saudi arranging an escort for an unnamed member of the royal family to Osama bin Laden.

He links himself an his work to Osama via... a US News and World Report article and another article in Vanity Fair - which he probably picked up at a supermarket check-out isle.

Overall the book weaves a decent story and provides an interesting look at some of the many evils of US foreign policy - but it is by no means credible, and by no means well balanced or complete.

Perkins, based on his numerous other titles on Amazonian spirituality et al, may have had a bit much ayahuasca to remember all of the events clearly enough and as such, his book makes for a bit of a waste of time compared to the many other titles on the subject.

This was my first introduction to the dark side of globalization, so I was fascinated with the stories despite the author's obvious love affair with himself. I have read some of the other reviews attacking the book's credibility, but I believe that the despicable interventions into developing economies to make a quick buck are real. Why wouldn't they be? We see that sort of slash-and-burn capitalism rewarded every day in the US. Companies are bought, sold, and merged with no regard for peoples' jobs or local economies. Shareholders and CEOs are the only concern. I started with Perkins' other book on the topic, The Secret History of the American Empire, which is more of the same.

That said, it is really important for smart people to start reading credible accounts of the failure of Chicago School economics, which will be revealed as one of the biggest frauds of our day and a true threat to democracy. Selfishness wins in the short term, but true self interest dictates that we invest in fair play, sharing resources, and placing justice above all. In the long run, the success of the community benefits the individual the most. Market forces do not naturally tend toward peace and equal rights, which people universally demand and deserve. Sorry to ruin the frat party.

Thank you for talking John.

Turn off your desperate housewives, and American idol long enough to see what is really going on in our world.

Wake up people!

I bought this book in hardcover a few years ago, and only read it recently after I started looking into why globalization has so many critics (despite its inevitability, and the fact that the IMF and the World Bank are benevolent organizations). I came away with the conclusion that Perkins is an utter charlatan.

Put aside the big whoppers (that Perkins was secretly working for the NSA because he once interviewed there, that the CIA killed two Latin American leaders within a three-month period recently, or that the U.S. had no evidence against Manuel Noriega, who was tried and convicted in a public trial in Miami.) It is the small fibs that give him away.

Perkins claims that he went to Brown on an athletic scholarship. This would make him the only person who has ever received an athletic scholarship from any Ivy League college, in history. OK?

What does the U.S. hope to obtain when it coerces third world countries into signing crushing loan agreements that will bankrupt them with debt? To Perkins, it is leverage to obtain these countries' votes at the U.N. Huh? Since when does the U.N. vote on something in which the U.S. depends on the individual votes of Latin American and African countries? It's not like the U.N. enacts legislation that the U.S. is pushing. Perhaps Perkins was referring to the U.N. Security Council, where any member country can veto a proposal. Problem is, the third world countries he discusses are never on the Security Council.

How about this one: the reason American economics professors do not teach the truth about what the U.S. does in the developing world is because American colleges are run by multinational companies, and these professors would be fired if they taught the truth. Seriously, I am not making this stuff up. Has Perkins ever heard of tenure? How does he explain Noam Chomsky or Howard Zinn?

In the course of "Confessions," Perkins is visited in a dream by Jesus, who is actually a South American peasant. Shortly after 9/11, Perkins has a mysterious conversation with a Afghani pedestrian near Ground Zero in New York, and he explains the truth about American peridy.

This is an utterly goofy book. I suppose it is what one would expect from someone who thinks that illiterate cultures can teach us how to travel through time. (My one star reflects that fact that I found myself engaged as I noted how many unbelievable claims leaped off the pages.) In the preface, Perkins described how one publisher recommended that he publish this as a novel. Any doubt why?

This book opened my eyes to a large degree. I think it is something that everyone needs to read to expand their horizons, and take a moment to view the world from another man's perspective.

Well written, insightful and very readable.

I am handing my copy off to friends and family to make them read it as well.

This book reads like a novel and less like a non-fiction. It draws to light the misguided spending of the US and other first world nations. It's not wildly enlightening but a fairly good read all the same.

This is a significant book and I highly recommend it. The book is a first person, non-fictional account of a corporate economic adviser who credits his quick rise to the top to a secret "Corptocracy" running the International Monitory Fund and World Bank, among others.

If you ever wondered why the US invaded Panama, how the Shaw of Iran came to power, or why the Saudi's have soo much power, this book is a good starting place. Five Stars *****

Six years in Belize (1999-2005)convinced me that Perkins is right on. He can't be totally specific or he'll be sued for libel. So you have to give him some leeway. But I watched Fortis, a Canadian Co. bribe their way to building one, two, soon to be three hydroelectric dams -- a total economic failure for Belize. How could this happen? Perkins explains it.

It's interesting to see the spin that the US Corporatocracy (represented, of course, by some of our reviewers here) puts on the book to discredit it.

If you want to see how the US victimizes third-world countries, you should include this book in your research.

The author of this book has verifiable credentials. There is not doubt that he has been where he says he has and there is no reason to doubt what he has done. Instead of questioning his credibility as most reviews have done, listen to what the man is saying. He communicates a very accurate account of what he (and our country) has been through. To try and discredit this "memoir" is to say that someone else was there watching and can discredit him. The fact is that Mr. Perkins was at these events. He did experience them. I appreciate that people question what they are told, but no company mentioned in this memoir will dispute what is written as fact. John Perkins held the positions that he states that he held and for the time periods the he claims he held them. The entire point of what the man and the companies he represented were doing was ineffective if you can prove or disprove anything beyond that. What do you need to believe? There is no one to hold your hand.
That said, after hearing what is reviewed in this book, there is no reason anyone should let one red cent of profit go to this man. He already has his riches. He has made them consistently since he started working as an "EHM." If the turn of conscience that John Perkins has claimed to have experienced in this book is true, make sure that you read or hear (audiobook) everything he has to say on the subject and make sure that everyone you know hears it as well without him profiting. I appreciate Amazon.com as a business but this is one case where the right thing to do is to disseminate this information/history without profits being made.

Perkins provides precious little detail in his work as an "Economic Hit Man." First, the book is about making other countries dependent on foreign debt. This is not news and being the economist who creates the lofty projections does not a hit man make. There is none of the cloak-and-dagger intrigue that you might expect.

Second, Perkins never discusses what he actually did. In nearly 300 pages he simply says he "cooked the books." This gloss deadens a book that might have had some real meat. Indeed, an account of 1970s and 80s Jakarta is really neat and vivid, but that can be accomplished in 5,000 - 10,000 words. Where is an explanation of the assessment process, a comparison of reality vs. his projects, etc.?

At best, this is a "tell-some" book, with a lot of lofty conclusions.