The New Confessions of an Economic Hit Man

Description

Shocking Bestseller: The original version of this astonishing tell-all book spent 73 weeks on the New York Times bestseller list, has sold more than 1.25 million copies, and has been translated into 32 languages. New Revelations: Featuring 15 explosive new chapters, this expanded edition of Perkins's classic bestseller brings the story of economic hit men (EHMs) up to date and, chillingly, home to the US. Over 40 percent of the book is new, including chapters identifying today's EHMs and a detailed chronology extensively documenting EHM activity since the first edition was published in 2004. Former economic hit man 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 US 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. Economic hit men are the shock troops of what Perkins calls the corporatocracy, a vast network of corporations, banks, colluding governments, and the rich and powerful people tied to them. If the EHMs can't maintain the corrupt status quo through nonviolent coercion, the jackal assassins swoop in. The heart of this book is a completely new section, over 100 pages long, that exposes the fact that all the EHM and jackal tools—false economics, false promises, threats, bribes, extortion, debt, deception, coups, assassinations, unbridled military power—are used around the world today exponentially more than during the era Perkins exposed over a decade ago. The material in this new section ranges from the Seychelles, Honduras, Ecuador, and Libya to Turkey, Western Europe, Vietnam, China, and, in perhaps the most unexpected and sinister development, the United States, where the new EHMs—bankers, lobbyists, corporate executives, and others—“con governments and the public into submitting to policies that make the rich richer and the poor poorer.” But as dark as the story gets, this reformed EHM also provides hope. Perkins offers a detailed list of specific actions each of us can take to transform what he calls a failing Death Economy into a Life Economy that provides sustainable abundance for all. Table of contents : Preface Introduction: The New Confessions PART I: 1963–1971 1 Dirty Business 2 An Economic Hit Man Is Born 3 “In for Life” 4 Indonesia: Lessons for an EHM 5 Saving a Country from Communism 6 Selling My Soul PART II: 1971–1975 7 My Role as Inquisitor 8 Civilization on Trial 9 Opportunity of a Lifetime 10 Panama’s President and Hero 11 Pirates in the Canal Zone 12 Soldiers and Prostitutes 13 Conversations with the General 14 Entering a New and Sinister Period in Economic History 15 The Saudi Arabian Money-Laundering Affair 16 Pimping, and Financing Osama bin Laden PART III: 1975–1981 17 Panama Canal Negotiations and Graham Greene 18 Iran’s King of Kings 19 Confessions of a Tortured Man 20 The Fall of a King 21 Colombia: Keystone of Latin America 22 American Republic vs. Global Empire 23 The Deceptive Résumé 24 Ecuador’s President Battles Big Oil 25 I Quit PART IV: 1981–2004 26 Ecuador’s Presidential Death 27 Panama: Another Presidential Death 28 My Energy Company, Enron, and George W. Bush 29 I Take a Bribe 30 The United States Invades Panama 31 An EHM Failure in Iraq 32 September 11 and Its Aftermath for Me, Personally 33 Venezuela: Saved by Saddam PART V: 2004–TODAY 34 Conspiracy: Was I Poisoned? 35 A Jackal Speaks: The Seychelles Conspiracy 36 Ecuador Rebels 37 Honduras: The CIA Strikes 38 Your Friendly Banker as EHM 39 Vietnam: Lessons in a Prison 40 Istanbul: Tools of Modern Empire 41 A Coup against Fundación Pachamama 42 Another EHM Banking Scandal 43 Who Are Today’s Economic Hit Men? 44 Who Are Today’s Jackals? 45 Lessons for China 46 What You Can Do 47 Things to Do Documentation of Economic Hit Man Activity, 2004–2015 John Perkins Personal History Notes Acknowledgment