Hoodwinked Book Review

Hoodwinked is a book written by Josh Perkins. It is a follow up book to Perkins' renowned Confessions of an Economic Hit Man. Cleverly titled Hoodwinked; this book simply describes what's wrong in today's economy and how to fix them.

The problem

The author starts by introducing himself as a former "economic hit man". What do economic hit man (EHM) does? To answer this question, I simplify the author's model of how the USA builds its empire without having to use its military.

First, the U.S will identify third world country with precious resources such as oil or real estate and send an EHM to the country. The EHM will persuade the leader of the country to develop the country in terms of power, grid, infrastructure, etc. The EHM will convince the leaders that the leaders and his friends will be wee taken care of if they take the deal. If the leader takes the bait, the U.S will arrange a huge loan from the World Bank to the country. But of course, there is a catch. Most of the loan money would not go directly towards the country's account. Instead, U.S companies and developers will chime in and run the projects the EHM laid down. As the loan and interest became too huge for the country to handle and about to default, the U.S will again, swoop in. The U.S will convince the leaders to sell the country's resources such as oil to the U.S with such a low and unreasonable price. But the country has no choice except to take the deal.

So that is what happens if the leaders succumbed to the EHM's pitch. But, if the leaders knew better and not willing to cooperate, another party will come in, a person that is known by the moniker; "Jackal". The Jackals' job scope is simple and can be described in one sentence; "take care of the stubborn leaders". The author laid down a case in point; Iran. Mohammed Mossadegh was elected as Iran's president in 1951. He vouched to force foreign oil companies to share more profit to Iranian people. He delivered by nationalizing Iran's petroleum asset. As expected, this doesn't sit well with both the U.S and the UK's intelligence. A CIA agent, Kermit Roosevelt (President Roosevelt's grandson) was sent to lead the infamous Operation Ajax. Thugs were hired to cause disruption and create an illusion that the people do not want Mossadegh anymore. After a merely 2 years as president, Mossadegh was overthrown, imprisoned and spent his life under a house arrest. His replacement, Mohammad Reza Pahlavi, was of course, a pro West. The Author's discovery was not shocking. We can see the same model was used over and over again. With a long list, Sukarno of Indonesia, Patrice Lumumba of Congo, Muammar Gaddafi of Libya and the most recent Morsi of Egypt, the US have made