Economic Hitman (EHM)

''Confessions of an Economic Hit Man'' is a semi-autobiographical book written by John Perkins, first published in 2004. Perkins, John. 2006 004 New York: Plume. .

The book provides Perkins' account of his career with engineering consulting firm Chas. T. Main in Boston. Perkins claims that the NSA arranged for him to be hired by the firm, and that he was subsequently seduced and trained as an "economic hitman" by a mysterious businesswoman named Claudine. Perkins writes that his primary role at Chas T. Main was to convince leaders of underdeveloped countries to accept substantial development loans for large construction and engineering projects, thus trapping them in a system of American influence and control.

The book was a commercial success, but critics expressed doubts about the accuracy of the claims Perkins made in ''Confessions of an Economic Hit Man''. Perkins was referred to as a conspiracy theorist by one reviewer, while a number of former colleagues at Chas T. Main disputed or disagreed with some of his allegations. Several reviewers discussed a lack of documentation or verification for Perkins' claims.

Content

The book provides Perkins' account of his career with engineering consulting firm Chas. T. Main in Boston. Perkins claims the involvement of the National Security Agency (NSA), with whom he had interviewed for a job prior to joining Main. According to the author, this interview effectively constituted an independent screening that led to his subsequent hiring as an 'economic hit man' by Einar Greve, vice president of the firm (and alleged NSA liaison). Perkins claims that he was seduced and trained as an "economic hitman" by a mysterious businesswoman named Claudine, who used his NSA personality profile to manipulate and control him.

According to Perkins, his job at the firm was to convince leaders of underdeveloped countries to accept substantial development loans for large construction and engineering projects. Ensuring that these projects were contracted to U.S. companies, such loans provided political influence for the US and access to natural resources for American companies, thus primarily helping local elites and wealthy families, rather than the poor.

The book heavily criticizes U.S. foreign policy and the notion that "all economic growth benefits humankind, and that the greater the growth, the more widespread the benefits." Perkins suggests that, in many cases, only a small portion of the population benefits at the expense of the rest, pointing to, as an example, an increase in income inequality, whereby large U.S. corporations exploit cheap labor, and oil companies destroy local environments.

Perkins describes what he calls a system of corporatocracy and greed as the driving forces behind establishing the United States as a global empire, in which he took a role as an "economic hit man" to expand its influence. In this capacity, Perkins recounts his meetings with some prominent individuals, including Graham Greene and Omar Torrijos. Perkins describes the role of an economic hit man as follows:

Economic hit men (EHMs) are highly paid professionals who cheat countries around the globe out of trillions of dollars. They funnel money from the World Bank, the U.S. Agency for International Development (USAID), and other foreign "aid" organizations into the coffers of huge corporations and the pockets of a few wealthy families who control the planet's natural resources. Their tools included fraudulent financial reports, rigged elections, payoffs, extortion, sex, and murder. They play a game as old as empire, but one that has taken on new and terrifying dimensions during this time of globalization.

Reception and criticism

Although the accuracy of the content has been questioned, the book did well in terms of sales, placing on the best-seller lists of both the ''New York Times'' and Amazon.

Columnist Sebastian Mallaby of ''The Washington Post'' reacted sharply to Perkins' book: "This man is a frothing conspiracy theorist, a vainglorious peddler of nonsense, and yet his book, ''Confessions of an Economic Hit Man'', is a runaway bestseller." Mallaby holds that Perkins' conception of international finance is "largely a dream" and that his "basic contentions are flat wrong." For instance, he points out that Indonesia reduced its infant mortality and illiteracy rates by two-thirds after economists persuaded its leaders to borrow money in 1970. He also disputes Perkins' claim that 51 of the top 100 world economies belong to companies.

Other sources, including articles in ''The New York Times'' and '' Boston Magazine'', as well as a press release issued by the U.S Department of State (DOS), have referred to a lack of documentary or testimonial evidence to corroborate Perkins's claim that the NSA was involved in his hiring to Chas T. Main. In addition, the author of the DOS release states that the NSA "is a cryptological (codemaking and codebreaking) organization, not an economic organization" and that its missions do not involve "anything remotely resembling placing economists at private companies in order to increase the debt of foreign countries."

Economic historian Niall Ferguson addresses some of Perkins's claims in the 2008 book ''The Ascent of Money'' (2008). Perkins contended that the leaders of Ecuador (President Jaime Roldós Aguilera) and Panama (General Omar Torrijos) were killed by U.S. agents for opposing the interests of the owners of their countries' foreign debt. Both men died in airplane crashes in 1981. According to Ferguson, Perkins's allegations "seems a little odd." Ferguson notes how in the 1970s, the amount of money that the US had lent to Ecuador and Panama accounted for less than 0.4% of the total U.S. grants and loans, while in 1990, exports from the US to those countries accounted for approximately 0.4% of total U.S. exports (approx. ). Ferguson contends those "do not seem like figures worth killing for." Ferguson, Niall. 2008. '' The Ascent of Money: A Financial History of the World''. London: Penguin Books

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