The Secret History of the American Empire

March 12, 2007
Having made a splash with Confessions of an Economic Hit Man
, Perkins offers similarly entertaining but disturbing accounts of the American government wreaking havoc around the world in support of American business. In Perkins's view, American presidents willingly comply with their CEO masters, distributing foreign aid to corrupt Third World leaders who keep a share and return the rest to U.S. business for major projects, leaving their nations poor and massively in debt, and requiring more loans and slavish obedience to U.S. policy. If any leader objects, the CIA destabilizes his government, by assassination if necessary. Gathering evidence is not Perkins's strong suit. Typically, a shadowy figure pulls him aside, insists on anonymity, then reveals all. Critics will rightfully accuse Perkins of dreadful journalism and a taste for conspiracy theories. Yet economists admit that loans and "expert advice" to poor nations are often harmful. Few deny that America has ruthlessly undermined uncooperative governments and supported dictators including Saddam Hussein. Perkins's assertions that the U.S. assassinated Ecuador's reformist president and connived at genocide in Timor and Sudan are not absurd, merely unproven. This book's greatest value may be to encourage a competent journalist to cover the same ground.

April 15, 2007
Perkins (founder & chair, Dream Change) chronicled his descent from Peace Corps volunteer to international pawn of corporate greed in his best-selling "Confessions of an Economic Hit Man". In this sequel, he elaborates on previous themes, demonstrating how the U.S. "empire"ruled by a potentate independent of the peopleimposes its will on much of the world. Perkins names multinational corporations (the corporatocracy), tied to the power of American military might, as this potentate. (As Perkins acknowledges in passing, the corporatocracy is nothing more than the military-industrial complex that President Eisenhower warned against in his farewell address.) In other words, U.S. foreign policy, carried out by the likes of the World Bank and International Monetary Fund, plays perfectly into the machinations of the corporatocracy. Perkins's saga blazes through dozens of countries on four continents, with accounts of political assassinations, CIA-backed coups, crushing debt for foreign governments, deepening poverty for the masses, and billions of dollars in profits to the corporatocracy. But Perkins, who has repented of his own skullduggery, ends on an upbeat note, encouraging readers to fight back by consuming less and making their voices heard. This is a startling but important selection for public and academic library economics collections and is unlikely to spend much time on the shelves.Carol J. Elsen, Univ. of Wisconsin, Whitewater

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