Confessions of an Economic Hit Man

I'm joined today by John Perkins he's the author up good winks and also Confessions of an economic hit man he describes himself as an axe economic hit man and also claims to have played a role in the process over economic colonization up third world countries John it's really a pleasure to speak with you I find your background so interesting why don't we just to give the audience who may not yet be familiar with you a little bit a sensory background give us your background as an economic hit man and what that means alright david thank you yaa at my official title is chief economist at a major consulting firm at a Boston I had a several dozen employees working for me I job is really to identify countries that have resources are corporations have it like oil in a range huge loans that countries in the world bank or its just organizations but the money never actually went to the country instead he went to our own corporations to build infrastructure projects in that country meant a great deal profit on that also some other well clear people have benefited from these projects things like electric systems industrial parks highways things that benefit very wealthy families but don't have a majority the people who are too poor to buy electricity in BK jobs industrial park there how many people yet the country would be like holy a huge debt he couldn't repay and so at some point we go back and say hey you know since you can't pay your debts so you're resource oil whenever very cheap to our country truck companies without any environmental restrictions on social regulations or privatizing public sector businesses sell them real cheap your utility companies your water and sewage system your schools your jails of to our corporations and that way we really created the world's first truly global empire primarily without the use of the military so you're really talking about so many you at you were directly exposed in other words to so many of the issues we talk about on this program in the corporate media often ignores Witcher corporate control over the Commons the privatization above public goods in resources and so many of these other things but at a certain point did you have some kind over realization that what you were helping two ish achieve was a negative being her how did you transition out of that world well it's a very interesting system david because in fact in business school I was tough but that's exactly what you should do you want to help a developing country current economy you invest billions of dollars in infrastructure and suggesting we we can show that works economy increases but it and as I get deeper and deeper into this and perhaps because I had been a Peace Corps volunteer before this living with very poor people in Ecuador I i cant understand that the perky were not benefiting that the statistics reflects the very wealthy which is true in this country to we know that eighty-five people control more resources than half the world's population our statistics and very very skewed to those rich people so I very quickly and began to relations a very good now been a time but I guess carpet and discovered that you know i i mission at helping the poor the poor was not working we were doing exactly the opposite we're helping the wealthiest to the wellesley so how did you what would you do you quit your job certainly but how what activist role did you take when I first has started to write a book which began may eventually become concessions and I contacted other economic hit man and jackals jackals the people goin' if economic hit men fail and assassinate or overthrow presidents I'd seen this happen with two of my clients democratically elected president of Ecuador hiring role does in the president at paramount rehearsed they did not buy the system they didn't listen to me and they were both assassinated so I quit my job I I started writing in contacting the people and I immediately get serious threat on my life both my own daughter's life same time I was offered a job thing going to dinner by the chairman of the board of stone and Webster another major began so Bieber he said hey you got a great resume again I've been chief economist at his rival he said we'd like to use your resume in our proposal is you won't have to do any work for us and we'd like to pay your half million dollar consultant retainer I just don't write the book so here yeah I know that that's it said and now we're kinda transitioning into the other thing I want to talk about I want to be very clear I highly recommend everybody read your book Confessions of an economic hit man they can also read hoodwink but really we're talking about a lot of the stuff from confessions not everything you said it has been has avoided scrutiny in controversy and I would love to get your reactions to some of the claims that are made by by state department releases which say that hearts love your book not insignificant part sir quote total fabrications that your allegations about for example the NSA's involvement in economic policy is just completely made up you know that you've been scrutinized significantly now the obvious the easy way to counter this would be for you to say well of course they're going to say that because they don't want the truth getting out and to me I hope we can move past that kinda obvious rebuttal and really get your thoughts about what the reaction has been from the state department too much much what you've written let me first address and at the new york times that a major front page of the financial section a ascended Sunday Times that on on the book and they they did it very very strongly and came to the conclusion that it was it was truthful on the state department I found a why they created a a a block or rather at that time a website call the misinformation website and my book was the only thing on in and it was puzzling to me because it's its old ally copies of the book for me and they did they made the allegation that yeah I claim that I've been recruited by the National Security Agency which I was and that was ridiculous is a national security on agency only does cryptography encoding and decoding messages well even back then in 2005 your cell we all knew the net NSA did more than that and now especially we certainly know that they that they do more than that what were the circumstances have this republic room in attempt at well first of all I was married to a woman whose father was very high up in the department of the Navy in washington won his best friend is higher than the national security agency I was looking for a job that would keep me out a vietnam and so he arranged for me to be interviewed by the NSA that would do it and they put me through extensive testing days and have psychological testing including lie-detector tests and concluded that I would make a good economic hit man whatever I'm interested in is what other kinda psychological tests that they put you through whether written test the interviews their lie detector tests and I'm that's about it you know I mean what not you know I've ever is that as a No you know room by myself with what yes right you writing this thing with books around me I i'm sure their cameras watching me you know the whole the whole routine okay so so that that once I did that the other thing and I'll just ask you directly the state department claims that you believe that the government was complicit in the assassinations of JFK Robert F Kennedy Martin Luther King John Lennon and unnamed US senators who have died in plane crashes is that something you allege no it not for I've never allege that i i'd I'd probably open the question as to whether at that might have been bad way when I have alleged no is that we were involving assassination at time n roll those in Ecuador and Omar Torrijos the pan American's I was there I know with admitted that we were we took out a and a in Chile henry kissinger's admitted that he and and Arbenz I want them Allah and the Mumbai handy and and most attacking Iran we've admitted two men in many of these things and I also wanted to go back to a David for just a moment to to the State Department leaving I always wondered why they did that website writers and its whole lotta books for me and I found out later through through it and add a good friend who is also host to the major show in Athens we did a show on May and was called into the Athens Greece US Embassy called on the carpet for doing that show in the ambassador said it puts me in a very embarrassing position because people come in asking is Perkins book real is a is what is our *** what is your official position on me said I don't have what I don't know what to say well I believe that a lot of diplomats around the world were asked their questions at the state department felt that it had to come out with an official statement that negated the book and that's why they did what they did and the 88 get there the diplomats off the hook they just say hey the official position as I is on our website don't ask me anymore about it and it sold a lot of books from a huge very quickly just in the last minute we have left you I would love to just get your opinion on when you look at the united states right now and the influence that big corporations in big banks have over every everybody everyday lives in terms of the political system the economic system resources et cetera what's your biggest concern in other words in which area do you think we're closest to the tipping point for things really taking a turn for the worst well I think what we know is we created a death economy one that's based on killing people militarization and ravaging the earth we need to move into a life economy is based on cleaning up pollution feeding starving people developing new technologies for transportation communications energy acceptor a sheesh and we've been moving more and more in a very bad direction we've created an economy and global economy that's an addict failure less than five percent of us live in the united states. we consume almost thirty percent of the world's resources will have to roll starving that's not a model can't be repeated by China even though they're trying it just puts the world and we're skin condition when when other countries try to repeat tomorrow we must come up with the new model and I and i think that corporations that they had the corporations that are really smart our understanding that I recently was invited to be the leadoff keynote speaker at a conference in 2000 business executives in Istanbul I get those invitations fairly frequently I think business is beginning to get it I think consumers are beginning to get it I think we're truly into consciousness revolution a huge revolution where people are waking up to the fact that we're living in a very fragile space station that has no shuttles we're gonna have to take care this place and big business is going to have to play a major role in waking up and taking care that serving a public interest not the one percent but the 99 percent serving the air essence and and we all need to get out there and make sure that happens we've been speaking with John Perkins the books are hoodwinked and Confessions of an economic hit man really great to have you on I do appreciate it thank you David and I'd like to encourage people to go to john perkins died or and organ sign up for my newsletter and see we're going to be speaking so I can make them personally