John Perkins (author)

Last updated
John Perkins
JohnPerkinsNov2009.jpg
Perkins in November 2009
Born (1945-01-28) January 28, 1945 (age 79)
Hanover, New Hampshire, United States
NationalityAmerican
Alma mater Boston University (B.S.)
Notable works Confessions of an Economic Hit Man (2004)
SpouseDivorced
ChildrenJessica Perkins (b. May 1982)
Signature
John Perkins signature (cropped).jpg
Website
www.johnperkins.org

John Perkins (born January 28, 1945) is an American author. His best known book is Confessions of an Economic Hit Man (2004), in which Perkins describes playing a role in a process of economic colonization of Third World countries on behalf of what he portrays as a cabal of corporations, banks, and the United States government. The book's claims were contested by some involved parties. The book spent more than 70 weeks on the New York Times bestseller list. [1]

Contents

Perkins has also written about mystical aspects of indigenous cultures, including shamanism.

Biography

Perkins graduated from the Tilton School in 1963. He subsequently attended Middlebury College for two years before dropping out. He later earned a Bachelor of Science degree in business administration from Boston University in 1968. He was a Peace Corps Volunteer in Ecuador from 1968 to 1970. He spent the 1970s working for the Boston strategic-consulting firm Chas. T. Main; he claims to have been screened for this job by the National Security Agency (NSA) and subsequently hired by Einar Greve, [2] a member of the firm (alleged by Perkins to have been acting as an NSA liaison, a claim that Greve has denied). Perkins claims that he was seduced and trained as an "economic hitman" by a mysterious businesswoman named Claudine, who used his NSA personality profile to manipulate and control him. [3]

As Chief Economist at Chas. T. Main, Perkins claims to have advised the World Bank, United Nations, IMF, U.S. Treasury Department, Fortune 500 corporations, and countries in Africa, Asia, Latin America, and the Middle East. Perkins alleges that he worked directly with heads of state and CEOs of major companies. [4] Perkins's time at Chas T. Main provides the basis for his subsequent claims that, as an "economic hit man", he was charged with inducing developing countries to borrow large amounts of money, designated to pay for questionable infrastructure investments, but ultimately with a view to making the debt-laden countries more dependent, economically and politically, upon the West. [4]

In the 1980s Perkins left Main and founded and directed an independent energy company. Perkins implies in New Confessions of an Economic Hitman, published in 2016, that he was poisoned in 2005 on behalf of the NSA or CIA. Doctors diagnosed him with diverticulosis. [3]

Controversy

Sebastian Mallaby, economics columnist of the Washington Post , reacted sharply to Perkins' book: [5] describing him as "a conspiracy theorist, a vainglorious peddler of nonsense, and yet his book, Confessions of an Economic Hit Man, is a runaway bestseller." Mallaby, a member of the Council on Foreign Relations, holds that Perkins' conception of international finance is "largely a dream" and that his "basic contentions are flat wrong." [5] As an example, Mallaby states that Indonesia reduced its infant mortality and illiteracy rates by two-thirds after economists persuaded its leaders to borrow money in 1970. [5]

Articles in the New York Times [6] and Boston magazine [7] have referred to a lack of documentary or testimonial evidence to corroborate the claim that the NSA was involved in his hiring by Chas T. Main. After an extensive investigation, the New York Times concluded that "the arc of Mr. Perkins's career seems to be described accurately," although they did not find evidence to support "some of his fancier claims," including those involving the NSA. [6]

Chas. T. Main's former vice president Einar Greve, who first offered Perkins a job at the firm, [4] : 10  agreed that foreign debt represented a poor economic strategy for developing nations: [8]

Basically his story is true.… What John's book says is, there was a conspiracy to put all these countries on the hook, and that happened. Whether or not it was some sinister plot or not is up to interpretation, but many of these countries are still over the barrel and have never been able to repay the loans.

However, Greve denied many aspects of Perkins' claims, such as the NSA having any links to Main, or that Perkins was seduced by Claudine Martin, saying that he believes that Perkins has convinced himself that his story is accurate. [7] BostonMagazine noted that Perkins can provide little documentation to support his claims of international intrigue, describing a largely unconvincing "flimsy package of materials." [7] A number of Perkins' former colleagues disagreed with his perspective on the company and contradicted specific claims he made; Frank Fullerton, one of his supervisors, stated that Perkins left Chas T. Main because he "thought he was worth more than he was." [7]

In a 2006 statement, American State Department stated that much of the book "appears to be a total fabrication... the National Security Agency is a cryptological (codemaking and codebreaking) organization, not an economic organization... Neither of [its] missions involves anything remotely resembling placing economists at private companies in order to increase the debt of foreign countries." [9]

Bibliography

Perkins's books on mystical aspects of indigenous cultures, including shamanism, include:

Related Research Articles

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Perkin Warbeck</span> 15th-century pretender to the English throne

Perkin Warbeck was a pretender to the English throne claiming to be Richard of Shrewsbury, Duke of York, who was the second son of Edward IV and one of the so-called "Princes in the Tower". Richard, were he alive, would have been the rightful claimant to the throne, assuming that his elder brother Edward V was dead and that he was legitimate—a point that had been previously contested by his uncle, King Richard III.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">David Korten</span> American ex-business professor, author, activist

David C. Korten is an American author, former professor of the Harvard Business School, political activist, prominent critic of corporate globalization, and "by training and inclination a student of psychology and behavioral systems". His best-known publication is When Corporations Rule the World. In 2011, he was named an Utne Reader visionary.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Henry Mintzberg</span> Canadian academic and author on business and management

Henry Mintzberg is a Canadian academic and author on business and management. He is currently the Cleghorn Professor of Management Studies at the Desautels Faculty of Management of McGill University in Montreal, Quebec, Canada, where he has been teaching since 1968.

Edgar Henry Schein was a Swiss-born American business theorist and psychologist who was professor at the MIT Sloan School of Management. He was a foundational researcher in the discipline of organizational behavior, and made notable contributions in the field of organizational development in many areas, including career development, group process consultation, and organizational culture. He was the son of former University of Chicago professor Marcel Schein.

Contract killing is a form of murder or assassination in which one party hires another party to kill a targeted person or people. It involves an agreement which includes some form of compensation, monetary or otherwise. It is an illegal agreement. Either party may be a person, group, or organization. Contract killing has been associated with organized crime, government conspiracies, dictatorships, and vendettas. For example, in the United States, the Italian- and Jewish-American organized crime gang Murder, Inc. committed hundreds of murders on behalf of the National Crime Syndicate during the 1930s and '40s.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Thom Hartmann</span> American political commentator (born 1951)

Thomas Carl Hartmann is an American radio personality, author, businessman, and progressive political commentator. Hartmann has been hosting a nationally syndicated radio show, The Thom Hartmann Program, since 2003 and hosted a nightly television show, The Big Picture, between 2010 and 2017.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Richard Kuklinski</span> American criminal (1935–2006)

Richard Leonard Kuklinski, also known as "The Iceman", was an American criminal and convicted murderer. He was engaged in criminal activities for most of his adult life; he ran a burglary ring and distributed pirated pornography. He committed at least five murders between 1980 and 1984. Prosecutors described him as killing for profit.

Margaret (Meg) Wheatley is an American writer, teacher, speaker, and management consultant who works to create organizations and communities worthy of human habitation. She draws from many disciplines: organizational behavior, chaos theory, living systems science, ancient spiritual traditions, history, sociology, and anthropology.

<i>Confessions of an Economic Hit Man</i> Book by John Perkins

Confessions of an Economic Hit Man is a semi-autobiographical book written by American economist and essayist John Perkins, first published in 2004.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Vusamazulu Credo Mutwa</span> South African traditional healer (1921–2020)

Vusamazulu Credo Mutwa was a Zulu sangoma from South Africa. He was known as an author of books that draw upon African mythology, traditional Zulu folklore, extraterrestrial encounters and his own personal encounters. His last work was a graphic novel called the Tree of Life Trilogy based on his writings of his most famous book, Indaba my Children. In 2018 he was honoured with an USIBA award presented by the South African Department of Arts and Culture, for his work in Indigenous Wisdom.

Chas. T. Main Inc. was an engineering company of the United States founded in 1893 and specialized in power generation—mainly hydroelectric power. In 1985, the company was bought by Parsons Corporation.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Simon Anholt</span> Independent Policy Advisor, Author

Simon Anholt is an independent policy advisor who has worked to help develop and implement strategies for enhanced economic, political and cultural engagement with other countries.

Economic diplomacy is a form of diplomacy that uses the full spectrum of economic tools of a state to achieve its national interests. The scope of economic diplomacy can encompass all of the international economic activities of a state, including, but not limited to, policy decisions designed to influence exports, imports, investments, lending, aid, free trade agreements, among others.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Ken Blanchard</span> American motivational speaker and author

Kenneth Hartley Blanchard is an American author, business consultant and motivational speaker who has written over 60 books, most of which were co-authored. His most successful book, The One Minute Manager, has sold over 15 million copies and been translated into many languages.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Chris Kilham</span>

Chris Kilham is an author, educator, and researcher of plant-based medicines. He is known for his appearances on Fox News as the "Medicine Hunter".

<span class="mw-page-title-main">1981 Panamanian Air Force Twin Otter crash</span> 1981 aviation accident

The 1981 Panamanian Air Force Twin Otter crash occurred on July 31, 1981, when a de Havilland Canada DHC-6 Twin Otter of the Panamanian Air Force, with identity code FAP-205, crashed at Marta Hill, in the community of Coclesito, in adverse weather conditions while on its final approach to the airport. All seven people on board, including General Omar Torrijos Herrera, who led the country's military dictatorship between 1968 and 1981, were killed.

John Joseph Kelley was a reputed mobster who was an associate of the Patriarca crime family. A robber and a hit man, his nicknames in the underworld were "Swiss Watch," due to the methodical way in which he plotted his robberies, and "Saint John," due to his patience.

John Izzo is a businessman, corporate advisor, speaker, bestselling author and an advocate for sustainable living. He is an adjunct professor at the University of British Columbia where he is a co-founder of Blueprint''. He writes and speaks about the "World of work". Izzo is the author of nine books.

Alan Briskin is an American sociologist. He is an adjunct professor at Saybrook University.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Chip Bell</span>

Chip R. Bell is an American author and consultant in customer loyalty and service innovation. He is known for his work in mapping the customer journey as part of the customer service experience and customer forensics.

References

  1. ↑ Thomas Jr., Landon (February 19, 2006). "Confessing to the Converted". The New York Times. Archived from the original on 30 December 2018. Retrieved 11 January 2019.
  2. ↑ "The Veracity of John Perkins' Accounts" Archived 2010-06-01 at the Wayback Machine Memo by Steven Piersanti, President and Publisher, Berrett-Koehler Publishers, Inc. March 7, 2005
  3. 1 2 Perkins, John (2016). The new confessions of an economic hit man (2nd ed.). Oakland, CA. ISBN   978-1-62656-675-0. OCLC   933908790. Archived from the original on 2022-11-18. Retrieved 2022-10-23.{{cite book}}: CS1 maint: location missing publisher (link)
  4. 1 2 3 Perkins, John. 2006 [2004]. Confessions of an Economic Hit Man . Plume. 2004. ISBN   9780452287082. New York: Plume. ISBN   0452287081.
  5. 1 2 3 The Facts Behind the 'Confessions' Archived 2020-10-16 at the Wayback Machine by Sebastian Mallaby, Washington Post Op-Ed, 2006-02-26
  6. 1 2 Thomas Jr., Landon (19 February 2006). "Confessioning to the Converted". New York Times. Archived from the original on 17 June 2013. Retrieved 2 July 2013.
  7. 1 2 3 4 Tkacik, Maureen. 15 May 2005. "Economic Hit Man Archived 2021-03-08 at the Wayback Machine ." Boston Magazine . Boston: Metro Corp.
  8. ↑ Revere, C. T. 17 January 2005. "Tsunami aid may line US pockets." Tucson Citizen . Retrieved 13 May 2020. Archived January 16, 2017, at the Wayback Machine .
  9. ↑ "Confessions – or Fantasies – of an Economic Hit Man? Purported links to National Security Agency appear dubious". US Department of State. 2 February 2006. Archived from the original on May 1, 2013. Retrieved 29 December 2013.
This page is based on this Wikipedia article
Text is available under the CC BY-SA 4.0 license; additional terms may apply.
Images, videos and audio are available under their respective licenses.