John Perkins
Encyclopedia
John Perkins is an economist
and author
. He was a Peace Corps
Volunteer in Ecuador
from 1968–1970 and this experience launched him in the world of economics and writing. His best known book is Confessions of an Economic Hit Man
(2004), an insider's account of the exploitation
or neo-colonization
of Third World
countries by what Perkins describes as a cabal
of corporation
s, bank
s, and the United States government
. His 2007 book, The Secret History of the American Empire, provides more evidence of the negative impact of global corporations
on the economies
and ecologies
of poor countries
, as well as offering suggestions for making corporations behave more like good citizens
.
Perkins also wrote an introduction to the 2007 book A Game as Old as Empire: the Secret World of Economic Hit Men and the Web of Global Corruption
(edited by Steven Hiatt), a collection of accounts from investigators, journalists and other economic hitmen. The book offers further evidence of economic hit men and rebuts some of the criticism that Perkins' book Confessions of an Economic Hit Man received.
in 1963. He subsequently attended Middlebury College
for two years before dropping out due to lackluster grades. He later earned a Bachelor of Science
degree in business administration from Boston University
in 1968. He spent the 1970s working for the Boston
strategic-consulting firm Chas. T. Main
, where he was employed after first being screened by the National Security Agency
(NSA) and subsequently hired by Einar Greve, a member of the firm (and alleged NSA liaison, a claim which Greve has denied). Perkins was trained early in his career by a beautiful, older woman who was allegedly armed with the psychological profile gathered about him by the NSA after many days of pre-employment screening, as one of many "economic hit men" advancing the cause of corporate hegemony.
As a former chief economist
at Chas. T. Main, Perkins says that he "was an 'economic hit man' for 10 years, helping US intelligence agencies
and multinational corporation
s cajole and blackmail foreign leaders into serving US foreign policy
and awarding lucrative contracts to US business.
After several years struggling with his conscience over the role he was playing in crippling foreign economies, he quit his consulting job. In the 1980s Perkins founded and directed a successful independent energy company. In the book Confessions of an Economic Hit Man, Perkins states that he suspects the success of his company was due to 'coincidences' orchestrated by those appreciative of his silence about the work he did as an economic hit man. He then sold the energy company in the late 1980s. Since then he has been heavily involved with non-profit organization
s in Ecuador and around the world. He continues this work today, in addition to his writing. One of his organizations, Dream Change, is dedicated to shifting consciousness and promoting sustainable
lifestyles for the individual and global community.
Perkins and his role as an economic hitman is the main theme in part II of the movie Zeitgeist: Addendum
, released in October 2008. He also appears in Boris Malagurski
's documentary film The Weight of Chains
, released in December 2010, and the documentary movie Let's Make Money
(in German) by the Austrian director Erwin Wagenhofer
, released October 2008.
reduced its infant mortality
and illiteracy rates by two-thirds after economists persuaded its leaders to borrow money in 1970.
Perkins' response is that Mallaby is an apologist for the system of exploitation and argues in his book Secret History of the American Empire (2007) that Indonesia is significantly worse off economically and socially than it was in the 1970s.
Articles in the New York Times and Boston magazine, as well as a press release issued by the United States Department of State
, have referred to a lack of documentary or testimonial evidence to corroborate the claim that the NSA was involved in his hiring to Chas T. Main. In addition, the author of the State Department release claims 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."
Interviews
Economist
An economist is a professional in the social science discipline of economics. The individual may also study, develop, and apply theories and concepts from economics and write about economic policy...
and author
Author
An author is broadly defined as "the person who originates or gives existence to anything" and that authorship determines responsibility for what is created. Narrowly defined, an author is the originator of any written work.-Legal significance:...
. He was a Peace Corps
Peace Corps
The Peace Corps is an American volunteer program run by the United States Government, as well as a government agency of the same name. The mission of the Peace Corps includes three goals: providing technical assistance, helping people outside the United States to understand US culture, and helping...
Volunteer in Ecuador
Ecuador
Ecuador , officially the Republic of Ecuador is a representative democratic republic in South America, bordered by Colombia on the north, Peru on the east and south, and by the Pacific Ocean to the west. It is one of only two countries in South America, along with Chile, that do not have a border...
from 1968–1970 and this experience launched him in the world of economics and writing. His best known book is Confessions of an Economic Hit Man
Confessions of an Economic Hit Man
Confessions of an Economic Hit Man is a book written by John Perkins and published in 2004. It provides Perkins' account of his career with consulting firm Chas. T. Main in Boston. Before employment with the firm, he interviewed for a job with the National Security Agency...
(2004), an insider's account of the exploitation
Exploitation
This article discusses the term exploitation in the meaning of using something in an unjust or cruel manner.- As unjust benefit :In political economy, economics, and sociology, exploitation involves a persistent social relationship in which certain persons are being mistreated or unfairly used for...
or neo-colonization
Neocolonialism
Neocolonialism is the practice of using capitalism, globalization, and cultural forces to control a country in lieu of direct military or political control...
of Third World
Third World
The term Third World arose during the Cold War to define countries that remained non-aligned with either capitalism and NATO , or communism and the Soviet Union...
countries by what Perkins describes as a cabal
Cabal
A cabal is a group of people united in some close design together, usually to promote their private views and/or interests in a church, state, or other community, often by intrigue...
of corporation
Corporation
A corporation is created under the laws of a state as a separate legal entity that has privileges and liabilities that are distinct from those of its members. There are many different forms of corporations, most of which are used to conduct business. Early corporations were established by charter...
s, bank
Bank
A bank is a financial institution that serves as a financial intermediary. The term "bank" may refer to one of several related types of entities:...
s, and the United States government
Federal government of the United States
The federal government of the United States is the national government of the constitutional republic of fifty states that is the United States of America. The federal government comprises three distinct branches of government: a legislative, an executive and a judiciary. These branches and...
. His 2007 book, The Secret History of the American Empire, provides more evidence of the negative impact of global corporations
Globalization
Globalization refers to the increasingly global relationships of culture, people and economic activity. Most often, it refers to economics: the global distribution of the production of goods and services, through reduction of barriers to international trade such as tariffs, export fees, and import...
on the economies
Economy
An economy consists of the economic system of a country or other area; the labor, capital and land resources; and the manufacturing, trade, distribution, and consumption of goods and services of that area...
and ecologies
Ecology
Ecology is the scientific study of the relations that living organisms have with respect to each other and their natural environment. Variables of interest to ecologists include the composition, distribution, amount , number, and changing states of organisms within and among ecosystems...
of poor countries
Heavily Indebted Poor Countries
Heavily Indebted Poor Countries is a group of 40 developing countries with high levels of poverty and debt overhang which are eligible for special assistance from the International Monetary Fund and the World Bank.- History and structure :...
, as well as offering suggestions for making corporations behave more like good citizens
Social responsibility
Social responsibility is an ethical ideology or theory that an entity, be it an organization or individual, has an obligation to act to benefit society at large. Social responsibility is a duty every individual or organization has to perform so as to maintain a balance between the economy and the...
.
Perkins also wrote an introduction to the 2007 book A Game as Old as Empire: the Secret World of Economic Hit Men and the Web of Global Corruption
A Game as Old as Empire
A Game as Old as Empire is a collection of accounts from investigators, journalists and activists calling themselves "economic hitmen", about global affairs...
(edited by Steven Hiatt), a collection of accounts from investigators, journalists and other economic hitmen. The book offers further evidence of economic hit men and rebuts some of the criticism that Perkins' book Confessions of an Economic Hit Man received.
Biography
Perkins graduated from the Tilton SchoolTilton School
The Tilton School is an independent, coeducational, college preparatory school in Tilton, New Hampshire, in the United States, serving students from 9th to 12th grade and postgraduates...
in 1963. He subsequently attended Middlebury College
Middlebury College
Middlebury College is a private liberal arts college located in Middlebury, Vermont, USA. Founded in 1800, it is one of the oldest liberal arts colleges in the United States. Drawing 2,400 undergraduates from all 50 United States and over 70 countries, Middlebury offers 44 majors in the arts,...
for two years before dropping out due to lackluster grades. He later earned a Bachelor of Science
Bachelor of Science
A Bachelor of Science is an undergraduate academic degree awarded for completed courses that generally last three to five years .-Australia:In Australia, the BSc is a 3 year degree, offered from 1st year on...
degree in business administration from Boston University
Boston University
Boston University is a private research university located in Boston, Massachusetts. With more than 4,000 faculty members and more than 31,000 students, Boston University is one of the largest private universities in the United States and one of Boston's largest employers...
in 1968. He spent the 1970s working for the Boston
Boston
Boston is the capital of and largest city in Massachusetts, and is one of the oldest cities in the United States. The largest city in New England, Boston is regarded as the unofficial "Capital of New England" for its economic and cultural impact on the entire New England region. The city proper had...
strategic-consulting firm Chas. T. Main
Chas. T. Main
-History:It was founded in 1893 by Charles T. Main, an engineer for the textile mills of New England. It was privately owned by its senior engineers, it being felt that this would leave decision making to those that knew the industry best...
, where he was employed after first being screened by the National Security Agency
National Security Agency
The National Security Agency/Central Security Service is a cryptologic intelligence agency of the United States Department of Defense responsible for the collection and analysis of foreign communications and foreign signals intelligence, as well as protecting U.S...
(NSA) and subsequently hired by Einar Greve, a member of the firm (and alleged NSA liaison, a claim which Greve has denied). Perkins was trained early in his career by a beautiful, older woman who was allegedly armed with the psychological profile gathered about him by the NSA after many days of pre-employment screening, as one of many "economic hit men" advancing the cause of corporate hegemony.
As a former chief economist
Chief economist
The Chief Economist is a single position job class having primary responsibility for the development, coordination, and production of economic and financial analysis...
at Chas. T. Main, Perkins says that he "was an 'economic hit man' for 10 years, helping US intelligence agencies
Intelligence agency
An intelligence agency is a governmental agency that is devoted to information gathering for purposes of national security and defence. Means of information gathering may include espionage, communication interception, cryptanalysis, cooperation with other institutions, and evaluation of public...
and multinational corporation
Multinational corporation
A multi national corporation or enterprise , is a corporation or an enterprise that manages production or delivers services in more than one country. It can also be referred to as an international corporation...
s cajole and blackmail foreign leaders into serving US foreign policy
Foreign relations of the United States
The United States has formal diplomatic relations with most nations. The United States federal statutes relating to foreign relations can be found in Title 22 of the United States Code.-Pacific:-Americas:-Caribbean:...
and awarding lucrative contracts to US business.
After several years struggling with his conscience over the role he was playing in crippling foreign economies, he quit his consulting job. In the 1980s Perkins founded and directed a successful independent energy company. In the book Confessions of an Economic Hit Man, Perkins states that he suspects the success of his company was due to 'coincidences' orchestrated by those appreciative of his silence about the work he did as an economic hit man. He then sold the energy company in the late 1980s. Since then he has been heavily involved with non-profit organization
Non-profit organization
Nonprofit organization is neither a legal nor technical definition but generally refers to an organization that uses surplus revenues to achieve its goals, rather than distributing them as profit or dividends...
s in Ecuador and around the world. He continues this work today, in addition to his writing. One of his organizations, Dream Change, is dedicated to shifting consciousness and promoting sustainable
Sustainability
Sustainability is the capacity to endure. For humans, sustainability is the long-term maintenance of well being, which has environmental, economic, and social dimensions, and encompasses the concept of union, an interdependent relationship and mutual responsible position with all living and non...
lifestyles for the individual and global community.
Perkins and his role as an economic hitman is the main theme in part II of the movie Zeitgeist: Addendum
Zeitgeist: Addendum
Zeitgeist: Addendum, is a 2008 documentary film produced and directed by Peter Joseph, and a sequel to the 2007 film Zeitgeist: The Movie. Zeitgeist: Addendum is itself followed by the 2011 film Zeitgeist: Moving Forward.-Synopsis:...
, released in October 2008. He also appears in Boris Malagurski
Boris Malagurski
Boris Malagurski is a Serbian-Canadian film director, producer and screenwriter. He is the owner of the Malagurski Cinema production company, based in Vancouver, Canada.-Life and work:Born to Prof. Dr. Sc...
's documentary film The Weight of Chains
The Weight of Chains
The Weight of Chains is a 2010 Canadian documentary film directed by Boris Malagurski which analyzes the role that the United States, NATO and the EU played in the breakup of Yugoslavia. It was released on December 17, 2010.-Production:...
, released in December 2010, and the documentary movie Let's Make Money
Let's Make Money
Let’s Make Money is an Austrian documentary by Erwin Wagenhofer released in 2008. It is about aspects of the development of the world wide financial system, focussing on how elitists economically exploit the rest of society, especially in the developing world, but also in western nations.-...
(in German) by the Austrian director Erwin Wagenhofer
Erwin Wagenhofer
Erwin Wagenhofer is an Austrian author and film director.In 1981 he presented his first short film Endstation normal. Two years later his short film Das Loch was shown at the Krakau film festival. From that year until 1987 he worked as a directing and camera assistant for several ORF productions...
, released October 2008.
Controversy
Columnist Sebastian Mallaby of the Washington Post reacted sharply to Perkins' book: describing him as "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." Mallaby stated that IndonesiaIndonesia
Indonesia , officially the Republic of Indonesia , is a country in Southeast Asia and Oceania. Indonesia is an archipelago comprising approximately 13,000 islands. It has 33 provinces with over 238 million people, and is the world's fourth most populous country. Indonesia is a republic, with an...
reduced its infant mortality
Infant mortality
Infant mortality is defined as the number of infant deaths per 1000 live births. Traditionally, the most common cause worldwide was dehydration from diarrhea. However, the spreading information about Oral Re-hydration Solution to mothers around the world has decreased the rate of children dying...
and illiteracy rates by two-thirds after economists persuaded its leaders to borrow money in 1970.
Perkins' response is that Mallaby is an apologist for the system of exploitation and argues in his book Secret History of the American Empire (2007) that Indonesia is significantly worse off economically and socially than it was in the 1970s.
Articles in the New York Times and Boston magazine, as well as a press release issued by the United States Department of State
United States Department of State
The United States Department of State , is the United States federal executive department responsible for international relations of the United States, equivalent to the foreign ministries of other countries...
, have referred to a lack of documentary or testimonial evidence to corroborate the claim that the NSA was involved in his hiring to Chas T. Main. In addition, the author of the State Department release claims that the NSA "is a cryptological
Cryptography
Cryptography is the practice and study of techniques for secure communication in the presence of third parties...
(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."
External links
- Perkins' web site
- John Perkins The Zeitgeist Movement Wiki
- John Perkins Reveals Why the World Financial Markets Imploded and How to Remake Them - video report by Democracy Now!Democracy Now!Democracy Now! and its staff have received several journalism awards, including the Gracie Award from American Women in Radio & Television; the George Polk Award for its 1998 radio documentary Drilling and Killing: Chevron and Nigeria's Oil Dictatorship, on the Chevron Corporation and the deaths of...
Interviews