What I've Been Reading: EHM

(That is, once I rushed through the Game of Thrones books...)

A friend and I were recently discussing international economics and politics and development (Hey, I almost studied that!) when he brought up a book he thought I should read, Confessions of an Economic Hit Man. I had not, but had heard of it, and with the magic of Kindle I was able to download it later that week and get started. For the uninitiated, the book is John Perkins' personal tale of his life as an "Economic Hit Man" (EHM), which means he worked for an international consulting firm and convinced developing countries to take on huge loans for infrastructure projects. This money then would go to US firms, and the host country would eventually have to default on the (much-too-large) loans. For a skeptic like myself, this story is not too new: American business interests controlling international organizations and aid programs does not surprise me. But the candor and depth of this tale are engrossing. I highly recommend it, although most who would be interested probably read it years ago (*).

I have often thought about the implications of US (and other Western nations') trade/aid/ development/economic policies abroad. And I have fretted over the inherent paternalism associated with being an outsider working abroad in development. Yet this book resonated with me beyond my old feelings. As development workers, we all should be aware of the numerous interests at play in all international aid. I think we all have pondered what Perkins ponders, "I began to question whether such aid is ever altruistic, and if not, whether that could be changed." And I think we all come to this realization long before our first statistics class: "I discovered that statistics can be manipulated to produce a large array of conclusions, including those substantiating the predilections of the analyst." But this is the line that resonates the most with me:

I stammered out the standard justifications: that I was trying to do good, that I was exploring ways to change the system from within, and - the old standby - that if I quit, someone even worse would fill my shoes.

I've felt that, and I'm sure many of you have in some job or other role in life. The challenge we all face is deciding if we are living our life's dreams as we want to be living them (Just ask Dispatch). Or are they even the dreams we want? Self-reflection is important, and when the above justifications start to surface as excuses for a particular situation you are in, it is probably time to get out.


One more Perkins-ism to ponder:

We prefer to believe the myth that thousands of years of human social evolutions has finally perfected the ideal economic system, rather than to face the fact we have merely bought into a false concept and accepted it as gospel. We have convinced ourselves that all economic growth benefits humankind, and that the greater the growth, the more widespread the benefits.

Perkins implores readers to start "reading between the lines" of newspaper articles, so here is one to get you started: This article about Haiti is a modern EHM-like scenario (or at least a very interesting expose!) via NYT. Actually you do not even need to read between the lines too much:

“The way I see it, in a deep, long, historical way, Haiti was founded by ex-slaves who overthrew a plantation system and people keep trying to get them to return to some form of plantation,” he said. “There have been cycles of this type of project, where the idea is that foreign investment will modernize the country. But things have gotten progressively worse for Haitians.”

and

In December 2010, the A.F.L.-C.I.O. sent the park’s backers a five-page memo summarizing what it called Sae-A’s “worst labor and criminal law violations” in Guatemala. It accused Sae-A of using bribes, death threats and imprisonment to prevent and break up unions and said a local union suspected company officials of involvement in a union leader’s rape never investigated by Guatemalan authorities.

This whole story echoes Perkins' writing:

In the end, however, if they found cheaper workers or more accessible workers elsewhere, they left. When they abandoned a community whose hopes they had raised, the consequences were often devastating, but they apparently did this without a moment's hesitation or a nod to their own consciences.

And if the conspiracy is not to your liking, then there are some intriguing gems of lines throughout, such as the closing: "The coincidences of your life, and the choices you have made in response to them, have brought you to this point..."


(*) apparently Perkins wrote a more-updated version that deals specifically with the 2008 (and on) economic crisis: Hoodwinked: An Economic Hit Man Reveals Why the Global Economy IMPLODED -- and How to Fix It