Confessions of an Economic Hit Man

I recently finished reading Confessions of an Economic Hit Man by John Perkins and regret shelling out too much money for it in a bookstore in Kuala Lumpur, Malaysia. The author purports to write an expose about how the "corporatocracy" and the American government "cheat countries around the globe out of trillions of dollars". Perkins claims to have been an economic hit man, or EHM, a highly paid professional that does the dirty work for "the Empire". The book turns out to be a sad attempt to inflate the importance of a few projects Perkins worked on and an even sadder case of a man that imagines himself at the center of profound, world-changing events.

Early in his career Perkins recounts being interviewed by the National Security Agency (NSA) but is either rejected or decides to pursue a career with a consulting company. Still, Perkins imagines that the NSA has a mysterious hand in the rest of his career. While there is sometimes a kernel of truth to some of the dirty commerce Perkins is party to, the author takes his allegations to an extreme that is unsupported by the facts - even as he tells them. Having some experience in this realm I can say that many of Perkins' tales don't ring true. Don't waste your money on this "bestseller".