John Perkins(1), the founder of Dream Change Coalition(2), shared the story of the time he spent as an international 'economic hit man' after being recruited by the National Security Agency. He defined an 'economic hit man' as someone who assists in cheating developing countries and US taxpayers, by funneling money from the World Bank to the wealthy in the private sector.
In his capacity as chief economist for the firm Chas. T. Main, Perkins said he traveled the world, arranging for developing countries to take out huge loans to pay for companies such as Bechtel and Halliburton to build infrastructure on their land. But then in order to pay off the debt, the countries were cajoled into signing away rights to their valuable resources, he detailed. The assets then became part of what Perkins termed the "corporatacracy," a global empire, largely based in the United States, that encompasses the highest echelons of corporations, banking and government. In what could be considered an unethical but not illegal manner, such countries are taken over without any military action, he noted.
Perkins left this line of work and now strives to reform the system. After Sept. 11, 2001, he decided to ignore the bribes he'd been offered to keep silent, and publish his expose, Confessions of an Economic Hit Man(3), with the goal of raising consciousness about what is going on and bringing America back to its original goals.

1. http://www.johnperkins.org
2. http://www.dreamchange.org/
3. http://www.amazon.com/exec/obidos/ASIN/1576753018/ctoc

John Perkins Photos

Globe trotting John Perkins has followed four career paths. One of them has involved explorations of indigenous cultures and shamanism. In this photo (click for larger), he's seen practicing with an Amazonian blowgun. View more images(1) from his gallery.

1. http://www.johnperkins.org/photo_gallery2.htm

Bumper Music

Bumper music from Tuesday February 15, 2005