Read: Confessions of an Economic Hit Man, by John Perkins

I bought this book with mixed feelings. For me it is evident that financial help to developing countries are a mixed blessing, at least.¹ On the other hand I know how easy it is to shift polemics from one side to the other. Like ex-smokers who often fail to yield to reason.

Perkins is solemn; that is a style that is intrinsic to many Americans, for the good as well as for the bad. It makes reading interesting, but for my personal taste there were too many occasions that "would change his life", and when he depicts a dream he had in Indonesia, starring a local-branded Jesus burdened under insignia of modern industrialism, it sounds to good to not to be made-up.
The facts of the book don't need this, though. The information about Perkins' work does not sound far-fetched in my ears. It's hard to say what is true and what is not these days, maybe it was always that way. But I doubt that the average politically informed citizen in the western world guesses that development aid in the form of huge loans to underdeveloped countries is often more of a help for the donor's corporations than for the beneficiary.

So, Perkins' work was more metaphorically that of an hit man than I originally thought. He did not personally travel to Third-World-Countries with briefcases of cash to bribe statesmen and dictators (at least he does not write that in the book), but he hits the countries by forging exaggerated economic forecasts to justify driving whole countries big into debt. He describes himself as paper pusher of this system, but also notes on several occasions that when paper and illusion does not suffice, raw force is applied by the "corporatocracy" to enforce its grip on foreign economies.

Critics of this book say it is its weak point that no hard evidence is given by the author. This is partly true, on the other hand the system Perkins helped to create relies on lies, so what would be a hard evidence that he has pushed up his forecasts when it is all nothing more than estimations and "applied" statistics? The events during the four decades from the late 60's into the 2000's described in the book fit well to history known by an average person like me.
Additionally, Perkins states that the system he describes is in no way a conspiracy, it is just plain old greed that drives ever growing multinationals and its appertaining politicians to exploit underdeveloped countries ever more. And most of them talk themselves into the cosy feeling that they are helping those people.

All in all, the stories told in 'Confessions of an Economic Hit Man" are hard to swallow but do not come as a surprise. A lot of sources are given, and also a lot of names; unfortunately everybody has to decide what to believe and whom when it comes to the shadow world of big money.

¹) As a side note, I would like the emphasise the insight of Leopold Kohr.