Written by John Perkins, the book narrates about the author’s personal experience as an economic hit man (EHM). He landed an opportunity as an economist at MAIN, a private international consulting company whose work involved conducting research on determining whether the World Bank ought to lend Ecuador and its neighboring countries funds to propel their infrastructure projects. What he did not know was that the role required manipulation of data and statistics, deception as well, to enable him produce impressive yet falsified reports that portrayed an anticipated economic growth rate in 20-25 years. The goal of these initiatives was to manipulate countries to succumb to the pressures of large loan repayment. The U.S government’s foreign aid help propel this mission of literally making these countries unable to pay the loans off. By doing so, it guaranteed economic world dominance through making those counties dependent.
Through the chapters, the author narrates his experiences in various counties like Indonesia and Saudi Arabia. He also portrays a constant feeling of turmoil and disturbance, especially when he discovered that in occurrences where the U.S objectives were faced with resistance and bribes were not enough, ‘jackals’ were put in place to conduct assassinations, invasions and coups.
To those familiar with the literature on influence of the World Bank and the IMF in developing countries, the book comes with no surprise. However, it is an eye-opener for those unaware of the government’s ability to intimidate other counties into debt and secure its place as a super nation. He points to the reasoning that helping developing economies grow only seek to make the rich richer while doing the bare minimum for the poor. The read generally gives a comprehensive, easy to read, insight on the world’s systems.
Can you relate some of these findings with what is currently going on in Kenya?
