Here's why a lot of people won't like this book: it's brutally honest, historically accurate, and it has a message.

Here's why a lot of people will like this book: see above.

Perkins story about himself is not for everyone; I'll tell you that right now. The biggest reasons are a) his constant dealings with historical leaders, politics, and world geography throughout the 60's, 70's, and 80's; and b) even though he translates many economic terms and explains what he's doing, how, where, when, and why, it could be confusing or overwhelming for the average reader. (This isn't a rip by any means, it's just the reality of the book -- I mean, look at the title. Let me put it this way: if I were to read a book about a guy who does C++ for a living, I'd be lost. Same idea.)

On the other hand, if you like history, politics, and economics, then this Bud's for you. Perkins does a great job with the tempo of his book, and really explains how other countries are in bed with big business here in America. (Personally, I found the part about The Saudi Arabia Money Laundering Affair exciting to read...chalk me up to "geek.")

I remember finishing the book, and declaring to Melis, "My God...I have to get a Hybrid."

If you like world affairs from the early 60's through present day, and you know and understand basic economics, then you should enjoy this book.

আমরা সবাই কমবেশী Hitman শব্দটির সাথে পরিচিত। হত্যাশিল্পী যাকে বলা হয়। কিন্তু Economic Hitman শব্দটি নতুন। এর বাংলা কোনো পারিভাষিক জানা নেই আমার। এ সম্পর্কিত কোনো কিছু জানতে চাইলে পড়তে পারেন 'Confessions of an Economic Hit Man' নামক বইটি। একটি রাষ্ট্রকে কিভাবে অর্থনীতিকভাবে পরনির্ভরশীল বানানো যায় তা সত্য এবং বাস্তব ঘটনার মাধ্যমে বর্ণনা করা হয়েছে।
লেখক নিজেই এই পেশায় জড়িত ছিলেন বলে অত্যন্ত সাবলীল ভাষায় ব্যাখ্যা দিয়েছেন।পাঠকের মধ্যে যারা conspiracy theory নিয়ে আগ্রহী তাদের জন্য এটি সোনার খনি। এটির মাধ্যমে world political control এর ব্যপারগুলোও জড়িত পাবেন। আসলে দ্বিতীয় বিশ্বযুদ্ধের পরে পৃথিবীর অধিকাংশ রাষ্ট্রই বুঝতে পারে যে যুদ্ধ পৃথিবী নিয়ন্ত্রণ করার সবচে expensive way. তখন থেকেই মূলত পশ্চিমা রাষ্ট্রগুলা এ পদ্ধতি অবলম্বন করে নিজেদেরকে নিয়ন্ত্রকের আসনে বসিয়ে নেয়। এখন তোহ চীন এ পথের অগ্রগণ্য।

পড়ে দেখতে পারেন। আশা করি ভাল লাগবে।

الاغتيال الاقتصادي للأمم

هل تستخدم الدول الكبرى قوتها الاقتصادية والسياسية والعسكرية ورجال مخابراتها في تحطيم الدول التي تخرج عن فلكها؟ بالطبع وشواهد هذا كثيرة وخاصة لو ركزنا على الدور الأمريكي في أمريكا الجنوبية وفيتنام والعراق وإيران، حروب قذرة ومتواصلة لا تخفى على أحد، ما يحاول جون بيركنز فعله في هذا الكتاب وبطريقة غير مقنعة هو وضع نفسه في خضم هذه الحروب القذرة بالادعاء بأنه كان قرصان اقتصادي، يتسلل للدول ليكبلها بالديون وليرهنها للإرادة والقوة الأمريكية، وفي كل مكان هناك من يثق به ويقرر أن يبوح له بالأسرار، تذكرت وأنا اقرأ الكتاب سخرية غازي القصيبي من هيكل عندما تساءل كيف يتأتي لهيكل إجراء الحوار الأخير مع كل زعيم راحل؟ هل كانت تصله توصية من ملك الموت؟ عموما الكتاب جيد لعشاق نظرية المؤامرة.

الكتاب عجبني جدا لانة بالاضافة الى المعلومات الاقتصادية اللي فيه فأنه يعطيك بعدا سياسيا اعمق بكثير و علشان كدةعاوز اركز على اربع حاجات اساسية

1 ... فى السعودية و موقفها من الكوربرقراطية

صادف القدر اني اكون في السعودية و انا بقرأ الجزء الخاص بالسعودية علشان كدة شوف اثر الجزء ده اما عيني و خصوصا الجزء اللي كان بيتكلم عن رخص العمالة اللي بتروح السعودية و غسيل اموال المملكة !!!

2... فنزويلا و شافيس

صادف برضو القدر اني اكون فى الجزء ده اثناء موت شافيس و ازاي هو كان له مواقفة ضد امريكا و اسرائيل اثناء جبروتهم فقط لأن همة الاول و الاخير كلن بلده و يأخذ علية طبعا وقوفه بجانب نظام الاسد دلوقتى

3 ... بنما و توريخوس

شوفت ازاي ممكن يكون الرئيس للبلد بينظر للفقراء اول حاجة و في تعاملاتة و جه في بالى قرض صندوق النقد الدولي اللي عاوز يأخدة الرئيس المصري مرسي و ازاي القرض ده هيجلب العديد من المشاكل و التبعية بعد كدة او ما يطلق علية فى الكتاب الكوربروقراطية

4 ... الاكوادور و جيمي رولدس

عجبني جدا انة و برغم ان فضل في الحكم سنةو كام شهر كدة لا انه عمل اسمة و شهرتة و كان السبب الاول فى كدة ولائة الاول و الاخير لبلادة و رفضة غسيل الاموال رغم انه كان ممكن يعمل ثروةهائلو زي آل سعود و كان نتيجة ل كدة اغتيالة على يد الولايات المتحدة الامريكية للأسف!!

I find it kind of surprising and disappointing that so many of the reviewers here have rated the book so poorly, and more importantly that they have done so not only for purely legitimate reasons (that they think Perkins is a poor writer; I disagree, but if they think so, they ought to rate accordingly) but because they accuse him of being a "conspiracy theorist." Perkins attempts to dispel this notion at every turn:

"Some would blame our current problems on an organized conspiracy. I wish it were so simple. Members of a conspiracy can be rooted out and brought to justice. This system, however, is fueled by something far more dangerous than conspiracy. It is driven not by a small band of men but by a concept that has become accepted as gospel: the idea that all economic growth benefits humankind and that the greater the growth, the more widespread the benefits. This belief also has a corollary: that those people who excel at stoking the fires of economic growth should be exalted and rewarded, while those born at the fringes are available for exploitation."

And this is why Perkins' book is important: it explains, in terms more unwavering and far-reaching than any author I've encountered (including Chomsky) the way the world works. (This is another problem some reviewers cite: that he overstates the extent the forces he cites really affect things.) Perkins explains that the Neo-liberal economics that justify globalization bear the same relation to the way economics really work that US government propaganda bears to the real reasons they are in Iraq (reasons Perkins reveals perhaps more clearly than anyone I've read, again including Chomsky). Perkins rehearses overtly many of the reasons and methods corporations use to increase their profits. These usually include exerting their influence on the government to earn or create contracts that funnel tax money into their own pockets - for example, foreign aid, or military spending.

The aspect treated in Perkins' book is US (and not only US, of course) foreign policy as it is used to open and maintain markets in third-world countries, markets that allow corporations to strip the land of its wealth without losing profits to fairly treating the locals or worrying about the local environment. To this end, the US government and its associates in the World Bank and IMF spend billions of dollars supporting friendly dictators and ousting or destabilizing and discrediting defiant governments (in Saudi Arabia, Iraq, Iran, Guatemala, Panama, Haiti, Colombia, etc).

Defiant governments of course are not always ideal themselves - though sometimes good exposes over emphasize a good guy-bad guy dynamic, it is really only about profits. As long as a foreign government lets corporations make money, they will be tolerated. No matter how brutal they are. If they try to defy the corporations, no matter whether for the end of increasing the quality of life of their citizens or for their own gain (Chavez vs. Iraq), they will be opposed, discredited, undermined, or deposed by the US government.

In Perkins' account, corporations are not evil. They merely do whatever they need to maximize profits. And of course, that rarely includes fairly compensating workers or spending millions to reduce environmental impact. It often includes lobbying the government to reduce taxes and impose protectionist policies, spend more money on weapons, look the other way on environmental offenses, forge devastating "free trade" agreements with countries with cheap labor markets, and, when necessary, invade a country to maintain access to natural resources.

Read Confessions if you are interested to understand what is really going on in the world and why, if you want to know why foreign aid doesn't seem to accomplish anything. Read it if you want to know the truth.

P.S. Confessions is particularly relevant today, as it will show you the true dynamics of Haiti's situation. The governments providing aid are by no means altruistic, and they have profits, rather than the good of the Haitian people at heart. This is why aid efforts will ultimately result in Haiti's failure to recover from the earthquake and a slide into even more abject poverty.

The author of this book, John M. Perkins (not the same person as the Christian anti-racism activist), devoted the early part of his career to the planned exploitation of Third World economies on behalf of the interests of corporations, primarily American. He represents himself as one of many and his activities as being wholesale. Now, presumably repentent, he has become an advocate of traditional cultures worldwide.

Reading his story has reminded me of a young friend I have. Recently returned from a year's "service" in Afghanistan, I've pumped him for information of what it was like to be part of the U.S. military presence there. That didn't sound very interesting at all--his work being primarily to inventory munitions, but his attitude about what he was doing was. When asked what he thought we were doing there he said we were fighting the 9/ll terrorists. He had no idea that the purported highjackers were mostly Saudis, nor that Osama bin Laden wasn't an Afghani. Coming from a viewer of Fox television, this degree of ignorance would be appalling enough, but this guy had just spent a year there with hundreds of other volunteer soldiers. Presumably the subjects of 9/11 or of their mission would have come up in conversation. Does this imply that most of them are so woefully ignorant of what they're doing and why they are doing it?

People like my friend--for he is a very nice fellow--and Mr. Perkins, one of them simply misinformed, the other oh-so-clever, and what they do to others trouble me deeply.

This mesmerizing and contentious exposé on global economic manipulation is an amalgam of memoir and political critique. Perkins narrates his time as an "economic hit man" (EHM), working for a consulting firm that helped powerful interests expand U.S. economic and political supremacy. Through immediate accounts, he pronounces how developing nations were enticed into taking massive loans, only to be trapped in a cycle of debt that benefited multinational corporations and elite political figures while impoverishing local populations. The book is compelling, fast-paced, and reads like a geopolitical thriller. However, critics have questioned the accuracy of some claims, arguing that Perkins presents a simplified and conspiratorial view of global economics. Notwithstanding, this tome offers a provocative perspective on economic imperialism, making it a must-read for those interested in international finance, corporate influence, and modern geopolitics. Give it a try, if you are an aficionado of Economics and Geo Politics.