Confessions of an Economic Hit Man
Confessions of an Economic Hit Man
Hit Man in Amsterdam
While working on yesterday's post - Why your Nation's IQ matters more than yours - and while checking my notes that I have on the book Hive Mind by Garett Jones I came upon some eyebrow-raising stuff:
"And that brings us to why countries—high-average-IQ, low-average-IQ, and in-between—might actually want to run up massive international debts: it’s a way to commit to having a strong economy in the future. This may sound absurd, but corporations seem to do this all the time."
And then the author proceeds to write about financial economist Michael Jensen and his "Nobel-deserving" theory. This reminded me about the tactics that "economic assassins" use in order to enslave a country with debt. They go in, make exaggerate economic growth projections and based on those inflated growth projections they convince - through one way or another - the leaders of that country to receive loans from the World Bank or IMF (International Monetary Fund). Of course that the projected economic growth doesn't happen and the country becomes stuck with having to pay interest and to offer other kinds of perks to the "master" such as voting in the UN Council with whatever policy the master says. Note: much of that borrowed money goes back to American companies that build the infrastructure, companies like Bechtel.
These economic hit men have gone to great lengths in order to make those fabricated projections, they hired skilled economists and mathematicians to come up with bogus yet convincing economics:
"I brought a young MIT mathematician, Dr. Nadipuram Prasad, into my department and gave him a budget. Within six months he developed the Markov method for econometric modeling. Together we hammered out a series of technical papers that presented Markov as a revolutionary method for forecasting the impact of infrastructure investment on economic development." The New Confessions of An Economic Hit Man (John Perkins)
"I thought about the core tools we EHMs used in my day: false economics that included distorted financial analyses, inflated projections, and rigged accounting books; secrecy, deception, threats, bribes, and extortion; false promises that we never intended to honor; and enslavement through debt and fear. These same tools are used today." The New Confessions of An Economic Hit Man (John Perkins)
If you don't have much economic education their arguments might be convincing and you might end up being enslaved by debt. Always be skeptic about raising up debt. It's not only countries and corporations that the bankers are after, it's you too.
"We use the same tools as you EHMs — on our own folks.” He proceeded to tell me that in recent years bankers had convinced clients to purchase houses that were beyond their means. “A young newlywed couple comes in,” he said, “and asks for a mortgage on a $300,000 home. We convince them to buy a $500,000 one.” He swished the wine in his glass and studied the residue. “We say, ‘You may have to tighten your belt a little, but soon your house will be worth a million dollars.’” He shook his head sadly. “They’ve been told to trust their banker”."
Don't trust your banker, he is not your friend.
Reading The New Confessions of An Economic Hit Man by John Perkins was quite informative and a good reminder of the underlying reality. We tend to get sidetracked with our daily problems and worries, with politics, little wars and cheap entertainment while in the background there is a group of people whose number one preoccupation is to constantly think on how to exploit and make a buck out of you.