Confessions of an Economic Hit Man by John Perkins Summary and Reviews
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Book Reviews of Confessions of an Economic Hit Man
Book Review: It's Confessions. But Could It Be True?
Summary: 5 Stars
Author John Perkins is a little like one of those high-tech thieves who gives up his life of crime to enter a lucrative practice teaching police to thwart other criminals. Having admitted to wrongdoing while engaged in his first profession, he asks you to trust the sincere intentions underlying his second - namely, his role as a best-selling author and speaker exposing the greed and perfidy of the United States. "I sometimes suspected some sort of conspiracy was directed at me," Perkins writes. Indeed, he seems to live in an odd world framed by the cold reality of economic statistics on one side and a life in espionage that reads like fantasy on the other. This odd balance would seem to limit the credibility of his premise: that international economic consultants have formed a de facto alliance with the U.S. intelligence apparatus to economically and politically exploit the world's disadvantaged nations. The book is an interesting read no matter how much credibility you invest in it. Perkins offers rare insights into behind-the-scenes mechanics of Third World debt and development. We recommend it, with the caveat that it may reflect the influence of one of Perkins' favorite authors, spy novelist Graham Greene.Book Review: Always a difficult piece to judge...
Summary: 3 Stars
When you read a book of this sort, you have to form either 2 conclusions. In the first instance, this author is really telling the truth. In the second, the author is writing a piece of fiction.
But such is the difficulty in evaluating if what the author is trying to say is true. Especially when they make claims/allegations that border between conspiracies and fiction. It's tough to tell. The author, if telling the truth, did not do a good job in substantiating or at least convincing us readers about the authenticity of his account. I agree with other readers of this book that he should have backed up his piece of writing with more economic arguments, and statistics that would help solidify his case.
This book really reads like a story on the advance of globalisation (he calls it corporatocracy). Overall, I feel that this is just one of the many version of theories we hear circulating around by organisations like FromTheWilderness and other authors who write about the topic of geopolitics, and the intertwining of politics and the wealthy. It's always good to know to get some insight. We should not accept everything we read in the media.
Nevertheless, it was an easy book to read, very light reading.