Confessions of an Economic Hitman

Part two of the book focuses on the author's first trip as an EHM to Indonesia. He is going there with a group of 10 other people and as the time period is during the Vietnam War, they are there to supposedly stop communism from reaching India. This is when the author really starts to sell out. He sees the terrible poverty and the awful living conditions in Jakarta, but he is still willing to exploit the country and make it worse. It shows him talking to one of his group members who has found the flaw in their reasoning and is realizing the terrible things they are doing and instead of listening to the older and wiser man, he convinces himself that what they are doing is good. This is shown perfectly in the quote, "His words gave me a sinking feeling, but a desire to convince him that Charlie was right; after all, my career depended on pleasing my MAIN bosses." (36). He knows the right thing to do, but refuses to acknowledge it because it might compromise his job and his income. By convincing himself that what he is doing is right he condemns a country but sets himself up for financial gain. However, when confronted about his behavior, John Perkins is forced to introspect about what he has done. It is brought to attention when the narrator says, "You're in it for the money. I heard Howard's words over and over. He had struck a nerve." (37). This reminds John of his contempt for the wealthy as a child and forces him to see what he has become. By following his greed he has become what he hated most.

This period of introspection continues and the character begins to realize how out of place he is in his job and culture. Unlike the rest of his team, John Perkins shows interest in the culture of the Indonesian people. He makes friends with a local and tries to learn the local language but despite this, he is alienated by local politicians. He expresses his treatment when he says, "During my meetings with political and business leaders, I became aware of subtleties in the way they treated me. I had not perceived it before, but now I saw that many of them resented my presence." (46). His understanding of how the local culture sees Americans is broadened by his interactions, and he is slightly disturbed by their views. By being out of place in that country, he gains some realization that he is also out of place at his job. These thoughts are deepened when he sees an anti-american play at a local theatre. The local people see America as a nation that is willing to ruin countries just to gain oil and power. He gets a bit of culture shock when a local asks, "Aren't they really all the same? Isn't it like the play showed? Doesn't your government look at Indonesia and other countries as though we are just a bunch of grapes?" (51). This revelation shows to him how corrupt the corporations which he helps are. His job is what is wrong with America and he finds himself representing things which he detests, further deepening the alienation which he feels.

Confessions of an Economic Hitman-Blog 1

This book is a memoir of a man who calls himself an "Economic Hitman". An EHM, as he calls them, is someone who cheats developing countries out of resources or money in order to help expand US corportation. However, the beginning of the book has less to do with EHMs and more to do with the authors childhood. He struggles with his self identity at an early age when he is raised at a boarding school by two parents with a huge superiority complex. When he gets a scholarship to boarding school he struggles with being himself and his parents force him to reject his old middleclass friends. The narrator tells us that, "With my parents' prodding, I rejected everything to do with the town and never saw my old friends again," (4). He struggles with his keeping his own identity while his parents force a different one upon him. It is perhaps because of the multiple personalities he took on that he adapted so well to being an EHM which requires changing ones personality to make them more persuasive depending on where they are. His struggle with identity also made him resentful of the wealthy kids at his school and his drive to surpass them motivated him. The author tells us that "...rather than rebelling, I repressed my rage and expressed my frustration by excelling," (5). The authors childhood issues are what made him succeed like he did and it was his anger which allowed him to gain such power. Had the author been content in his childhood and unmotivated, he would never have become an EHM and held such influence.
A bit later in the book the author starts to deal with ethical choices when he first becomes an EHM. He joins the Peace Corps as a cover to explore and exploit oil rich areas of the Amazon and quickly gets signed to a large company called MAIN. He finds himself selling out so he can surpass his classmates. The author describes his reason for his employment with MAIN when he says, "I knew that some of my class mates who got rejected by the draft and went on to earn MBAs and other graduate degrees would be overcome with jealousy,"(12). Because of his greedy lust for power he will make choices that will affect countries which he has no right to be involved in. His being hired as an "economist" meant that he will receive extreme amounts of money, which is really "blood money" for all the destruction he will cause in developing countries.


Perkins, John. Confessions of an Economic Hit Man. New York: Plume, 2006.