Confessions of an Economic Hit Man

John Perkins says he worked as an “economic hit man,” a consultant whose job was to steer developing nations into loans they could not repay, opening them to leverage by powerful interests. Part memoir, part confession, the book walks through his projects in Indonesia, Panama, Saudi Arabia, and Ecuador and argues that debt and infrastructure deals can function as instruments of control. It became a long-running bestseller and a touchstone for readers skeptical of how global finance and foreign policy intersect.