What does an ‘economic hitman’ do?
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About the video: ‘What does an ‘economic hitman’ do?’
John Perkins describes his work as an economic hitman (EHM) and reveals a game that’s “as old as empire” – and one that has taken on terrifying new dimensions in an era of globalization. Covertly recruited by the US government and on the payroll of an international consulting firm, Perkins traveled to Indonesia, Panama, Ecuador, Colombia, Saudi Arabia, Iran and other nations of strategic importance to the US. His job involved implementing policies that promoted the interests of what Perkins calls America’s “corporatocracy” (a coalition of government organizations, banks, multilaterals and private corporations), while at the same time professing to alleviate poverty.
Total views: 2,767
Filmed: Porto Allegre, Brazil on 28 January 2005
Credits: Interviewer and Camera - Zoe Young Editor - Marcus Morrell
Copyright © 2005 Zoe Young
About John Perkins
From 1971 to 1981 John Perkins was Chief Economist and Director of Economics and Regional Planning for Chas T. Main, an international consulting firm based in Boston, Massachusetts. In 2004 he published a best-selling memoir called ‘Confessions of an Economic Hitman,’ in which he describes his work at Main and the duplicitous means by which corporate America has prospered at the expense of many of the world’s poorest nations.
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