John Perkins
GRITtv: The Secret Global Empire(s): Russ Baker & John Perkins
U.S. history has seen many presidents elected on a wave of progressive promises, only to see them compromise again and again once in office, caving to the very interests, military and corporate, that they railed against so effectively. Barack Obama is only the latest to get elected on a promise to end a war and take care of working people, only to preside over an administration stacked with Wall Street types and wind up continuing a war he wanted to wind down. John Perkins is the author of "Confessions of an Economic Hit Man." Russ Baker wrote "Family of Secrets: The Bush Dynasty, the Powerful Forces That Put It in the White House, and What Their Influence Means for America." They argue the only weapon we have is public opinion and public pressure -- and we need to bring it to bear not just on the government, but on the corporations.
Email this pageKeynote: John Perkins: Exploiting 3rd-World Countries
John Perkins is an economist and author. His best known book is "Confessions of an Economic Hit Man" (2004), an insider's account of the exploitation or neo-colonization of Third World countries by what Perkins describes as a cabal of corporations, banks and the U.S. government. "The Secret History of the American Empire" makes further claims about the negative impact of global corporations on the economies and ecologies of poor countries and suggestions for making corporations behave more like good citizens.
