Just Finished a Book
Wow, it's been quite some time that I last made a blog entry, and apparently I cared a lot about bathroom manners :)
This blog entry is really just to document the fact that I actually read (and finished!) a book. I have an odd habit of reading a book 75% through and then tossing it. I think it typifies how quickly I get bored with things. Thank God I work for a consulting firm where I bounce from project to project. Anywho...
The book I just finished is called "Confessions of an Economic Hit Man," by John Perkins (www.johnperkins.org). Caveat: this book is not for conservatives or oil company executives.
To summarize, this non-fiction, confessional book covers the career of an "economic hit man," or EHM, who essentially was responsible to forecasting overly auspicious economic conditions for developing nations that would serve as the basis for "approving" billions of dollars in loans from American financial institutions to the developing nation. The loans were granted with the knowledge that they would never be repaid and would serve as leverage whenever the United States needed, for instance, oil drilling rights, UN votes, etc. The loans were made for infrastructure projects (electric, telecommunications, etc) that would in turn be "won" by American engineering and consulting firms (Bechtel, Haliburton, and the author's then employer MAIN). The book's focus is around the "corporatocracy" that is America's means to a global empire and influence. Many comparisons are made to previous attempts at creating world empires, e.g. the Roman empire, and highlights America's covert and sometimes overly blatant methods of achieving political goals. The author backs all this with his insider knowledge and historical references, which helps the book read sometimes more like a spy novel.
Overall, a 4 out 5 stars. The book starts off exciting, slows through the middle, and then ends with the typical, "how are you now going to go and change the world" rhetoric, which made me take away a star.
The book will definitely make me read more between the lines of world news and events and has definitely opened up my eyes.
This blog entry is really just to document the fact that I actually read (and finished!) a book. I have an odd habit of reading a book 75% through and then tossing it. I think it typifies how quickly I get bored with things. Thank God I work for a consulting firm where I bounce from project to project. Anywho...
The book I just finished is called "Confessions of an Economic Hit Man," by John Perkins (www.johnperkins.org). Caveat: this book is not for conservatives or oil company executives.
To summarize, this non-fiction, confessional book covers the career of an "economic hit man," or EHM, who essentially was responsible to forecasting overly auspicious economic conditions for developing nations that would serve as the basis for "approving" billions of dollars in loans from American financial institutions to the developing nation. The loans were granted with the knowledge that they would never be repaid and would serve as leverage whenever the United States needed, for instance, oil drilling rights, UN votes, etc. The loans were made for infrastructure projects (electric, telecommunications, etc) that would in turn be "won" by American engineering and consulting firms (Bechtel, Haliburton, and the author's then employer MAIN). The book's focus is around the "corporatocracy" that is America's means to a global empire and influence. Many comparisons are made to previous attempts at creating world empires, e.g. the Roman empire, and highlights America's covert and sometimes overly blatant methods of achieving political goals. The author backs all this with his insider knowledge and historical references, which helps the book read sometimes more like a spy novel.
Overall, a 4 out 5 stars. The book starts off exciting, slows through the middle, and then ends with the typical, "how are you now going to go and change the world" rhetoric, which made me take away a star.
The book will definitely make me read more between the lines of world news and events and has definitely opened up my eyes.
posted by Paul B at Sunday, November 13, 2005
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