Confessions of an Economic Hitman: Review

This Thanksgiving break I got a chance to read Confessions of An Economic Hitman, by John Perkins. This book is about author’s life and his work all over the world. In a nutshell, his job was to go to a country with resources (oil, minerals, etc) and develop plan such that his companies will get contract work for “development” of that country. In turn that country falls under debt and future resources can be "utilized more efficiently”. It was great to read about this because we know about a lot of facts and conspiracy theories but no one has ever provided conclusive evidence for such things. This book also lacks in evidence (specifically numbers) but first hand perspective of person from field helps us in better understanding of world.

This book not only focuses on how author used his skills to develop those plans but also deals with kind of resistance provided by specific countries, how techniques had to be modified, strengths and weaknesses of system, “lobbying” or  relationships among top diplomats of countries, different kinds of pressure by governments etc. Overall it gives a clear picture of the agenda behind development plan and how it was executed (and how it backfired in few cases). Author also gives a good description of natural resources of different countries, specifically South American countries and how over time these resources exhausted. It is a pain striking story of exploitation of natural resources and destroying the beauty.

Another point that made this book interesting was history of Latin America. History fascinates me but my knowledge was limited to Northern Hemisphere only, this book gave me place to start looking into fascinating history (modern) of counties like Panama and Ecuador. Author also talks a lot about his friend and leader of Panama, Omar Torrijos.

Last thing that interests me is author’s viewpoint on his job. He provides an overview stretching over twenty years – starting with a glorious job and over time realizing the ‘real’ work as ‘economic hit man’, thus the name ‘confessions’. At this point of my life when I am evaluating different career paths, this book acts as eye opener on how and what should be considered before choosing any specific path.

I have been told that this book only gives one side of the story and to balance I should read The Post-American World by Fareed Zakaria. That book is on my reading list and once I finish it, will share my viewpoint.