A Book Review - The New Confessions of an Economic Hit Man By John Perkins

The book provides Perkins' account of his career with engineering consulting firm Chas. T. Main in Boston. 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 rich families and local elites, rather than the poor. Suggesting a system of corporatocracy and greed (rather than a unilateral conspiracy), 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 which led to his subsequent hiring as an 'economic hit man' by Einar Greve, vice president of the firm (and alleged NSA liaison). According to Perkins, he began writing Confessions of an Economic Hit Man in the 1980s, but "threats or bribes always convinced him to stop."