John Perkins' Life Economy

The New Confessions of an Economic Hit Man and John Perkins' "Life Economy"

John Perkins delivers a speech at The Strand in regards to the release of his new book, The New Confessions of an Economic Hit Man, and his solution to the the global corporatocracy, a solution that he titles the "Life Economy"

The New Confessions

            In February 2016, former economist and current author and social activist John Perkins released an updated and expanded version of his New York Times best-selling book Confessions of an Economic Hit Man. The original Confessions follows Perkins' career as an economic hit man, or EHM, and describes the methods used by the companies he represented to trap developing countries into a system of debt that Perkins refers to as "the death economy" (Perkins, 2). Essentially, the death economy that Perkins worked with involved convincing developing countries to invest large amounts of money into infrastructure projects funded by loans from the World Bank. When these infrastructure projects inevitably failed to produce enough returns to pay off the loans from the World Bank, the countries would have to privatize their utilities and sell their land and resources to predominantly American companies. Working with wealthy business owners in these developing countries, Perkins' job was to convince the countries' leaders that the investments would create economic booms comparable to or exceeding the industrial revolutions in the United States and much of Western Europe.
            Perkins quickly found that in order to produce economic forecasts that his employers were satisfied with and would convince these leaders to invest, his presentations would need to be comprised of intentionally deceptive and misleading statistics that prioritized Gross National Product (GNP) over other economic factors. Alternatively, when leaders refused to accept EHM propositions, the conglomerate of government agencies, international organizations, and powerful corporations that Perkins refers to as "the corporatocracy" sent in the "jackals." The jackals were highly-trained, former-military personnel who were given the task to assassinate anyone who refused to play the corporatocracy's game. Perkins, driven by a deceitful form of the "American dream" that he was taught to believe from childhood, continued his involvement with the corporatocracy for many years until, revolted by the assassinations of many of the leaders he worked with and admired, he quit and finished working on his Confessions. Perkins remarks that "our school and press have taught us to perceive all of our actions as altruistic" (Perkins, 28). Perkins found that the American capitalist system he grew up in bred individuals who "were convinced that communism and terrorism were evil forces—rather than the predictable reactions to decisions they and their predecessors had made—and that they had a duty to their country, to their offspring, and to God to convert the world to capitalism" (Perkins, 62). This view is inherently problematic to any efforts for social and economic equality and repeatedly deflects blame to marginalized groups, such as immigrants, communists, and most recently Muslims.

Perkins' Message as it Pertains to Class and American Culture

            Perkins emphasizes the need to recognize that the death economy is a legitimate socioeconomic force that is actively perpetuated not only by major corporations and our own government but also by us as citizens. Ultimately, the preconceptions and behavior of the people are what allow controlling agencies, in Perkins' case the corporatocracy, to function. Similar ideas have been presented in a number of the works we have discussed, including Manhattan Transfer and Natives Son, but Perkins' observations are most closely paralleled in Alan Nadel's Containment Culture. Both authors describe how the conditions that they grew up with in middle-class America during the Cold War impacted them in their formative years and demonized specific groups of people, particularly communists. In a similar sentiment to Perkins, Nadel describes how "the cultural narratives of [his] childhood made personal behavior part of a global strategy at the same time as they personalized the internal struggle with communism" (Nadel, xi). Nadel's work, which gives a background into the development of containment culture, allows us to better understand how Perkins' global death economy developed. Perkins' work identifies the immoral economic practices and how they operate but only gives vague references to how it may have developed through moments in his childhood. What Perkins does by releasing a more modern, updated book is identify how the death economy and social factors, influenced by Nadel's containment culture, have transitioned into our contemporary world. By doing so, Perkins takes on a similar role to us as students in our course on Class and American Culture. He connects the development of class-based and nationalistic economics to modern globalism and corporatization, going even further than we do in our comparisons by predicting further development of this system and taking action against it through his many foundations, which include Dream Change and the Pachamama Alliance. This activism and concern for the future is essential to Perkins' work and echoes not only Nadel's work but also the fervor of nearly every author we have read from Karl Marx to Richard Wright and J. D. Salinger.

What You Can Do: The "Life Economy"

            Perkins' activism is rooted in a belief in the power of a united group of responsible citizens. Much of Perkins' speech at The Strand was focused on this concept and how we as citizens can influence and moderate the corporatocracy. Perkins emphasized the importance of not only identifying and admitting to complicity in the problem but also identifying ways to change the system and committing to this change. He professed that as consumers, we speak with our dollars, and as citizens, we speak with our votes. It is up to us to ensure that our actions in these regards represent how we feel. He also encouraged us to go beyond this and contact corporations and representatives directly to express why we feel and act the way we do, encouraging them to improve and consider their own actions. The New Confessions of an Economic Hit Man concludes with two new additions to his autobiographical account: chapters titled "What You Can Do" and "Things to Do." Each of these breaks down individual behaviors and objectives based primarily on occupation and age, listing potential actions for students, adults, and retirees among others. Perkins suggests a movement from a death economy based on debt, fear, and unaccountability to a "life economy" predicated on responsibility, political activism, and genuine concern for one's planet and fellow humans. In this sense, I believe that Perkins' work holds great value in enhancing the overall message of our course. It is important that any study of the history of political and social movements yields not only a comprehensive understanding but a meaningful implication on how one thinks and conducts himself or herself.


For a more comprehensive look at the life economy and what you can do, I highly recommend reading John Perkins' The New Confessions of an Economic Hit Man  or visiting his website at johnperkins.org

Works Cited

Nadel, Alan. Containment Culture. Duke UP, 1995. Print.

Perkins, John. The New Confessions of an Economic Hit Man. Oakland: Berrett-Koehler, 2016. Print.