.......a journey called life

I have been trying to read a book for quite some time now but always, something happens which forces me to keep it back. The book is "Lexus and the Olive Tree" by Thomas Friedman. Historical reasons have been exams, finding another interesting book on loan or buying another book. The book talks about the power of globalization and the wonderful things it is doing to the third world.

This time, the reason for not continuing with that book was me buying anther book on my trip to Borders. It was "Confessions of an Economic Hit Man" by John Perkins. A thought provoking book, to say the least. While it was an amazing read, it has also raised so many questions in my mind. This book indeed forces you to think quite hard.

To give a brief overview of the book, John Perkins claims he was an economic hit man (EHM) - a breed of professional who work for various corporations but serve the purpose of stretching the boundaries of global empire perpetrated by the US. These people are never on the government payroll. Nevertheless, they are working for the government interest. For example, these guys will go to a third world country, study the economic prospects of the country and propose lofty projection of economic trajectory of the country in the next 25-30 years. Now, in order to meet the projections, the country needs power plants, infrastructure, water treatment system, housing, banking system etc all of which need immense amount of capital outlay. At that point, the EHMs get the loan approved from World Bank, US AID, IMF, ADB etc. All this while, the intent was not to let the country develop but rather to give so much loan to the country that they have no choice but default on the payment. As this happens, the US government will start laying out the list of things they need in favor of allowing them to default on the loan.The list might include items like setting up military base, accessing the vast natural reserve of the country, get into some kind of free trade agreement, open the economy, political support in the UN etc. This list is far from exhaustive. Every country offers a unique advantage and terms vary based on that.

Mr Perkins, supposedly, had this itch to write a book as his conscience was not allowing him to continue doing this dirty work.I do not want to get into the debate whether he is morally just or not. I know a lot of people who repent their deeds later even though they were enjoying it while they were on it.

Rather, I would like to understand the factors behind what's going on around the world. I wrote a post sometime back saying that even though I don't want to work for a bank, I might end up working for one, indirectly. Reading this book only reinforces that belief. Also, now when I read the Friedman book "Lexus and the Olive Tree", I will be more informed of certain events and prejudices.

When I ask myself if I believe every word he has written in the book, I believe that I am skeptic of certain events as they have been dramatized too much (but these events made the book an interested read) but I can not question the phenomenon Mr Perkins has brought forward. Finer details are trivial but the message which this book conveys is crystal clear. The corporatocracy does exist and permeating through nations faster than you can imagine. An example near and dear to our heart is the liberalization policy which the Indian government (under late Mr P V Narasimha Rao) accepted under IMF pressures. Even though it turned out to be good for our country in terms of development but that was the ideal case I could imagine when the EHMs succeeded in twisting the arms of a country under the pressure of debt. Thanks to the indigenous Indian companies which stood the test of the time and fought fiercely against the competition from outside firms. I guess I will consider this as one of EHM's failure! Mr Perkin, do you agree?