Early years: Donald Trump and John Perkins
Tomorrow, September 8, The Art of the Steal: Trump and the Economic Hit Man Presidency is published. I have been working toward this moment for more than half a century.
In the 1970s, I traveled the world as an economic hit man. My official title was chief economist. My job was to convince the leaders of countries with resources our corporations wanted to accept enormous loans. The money flowed back to US engineering and construction companies. The borrowing country was left with the debt, and that debt gave us leverage.
During the majority of those years, I believed in what I was doing. I was like the bully who concludes that because people give in to him, he must be right. I wanted to believe that the power plants, highways, ports, and industrial parks we promoted would end poverty.
I recall my first assignment in Indonesia. The evening before my initial meeting with a top government official, a commercial officer (usually CIA) from the US embassy visited me. I admitted that I was terrified that I would make a fool of myself.
“Rub your chin slowly,” he advised, “frown menacingly, and say something like ‘I need more details.’ Never admit you don’t know. Act like you hold the power.” He explained that the man I would meet with would get rich off my deal. “He wants to believe you. Make him believe you.”
The art of the steal involves convincing people that serving their short-term personal ambitions is the right thing to do, even when they know in their hearts that they are being lied to and are lying to themselves and others.
In 2004, I published Confessions of an Economic Hit Man because I believed people needed to understand what was being done in our name overseas. I never expected to see those techniques deployed so openly inside my own country and by the US government itself.
The Art of the Steal is not just about Donald J. Trump. Yes, his name appears throughout its pages and in the subtitle. But he is merely a symbol of how the economic hit man strategy has evolved, regardless of which political party occupies the White House. It has taken over the US presidency.
The Art of the Steal is not another partisan attack. It is an effort to expose methods I once used abroad and now see being deployed openly in the US.
Today is the final day to preorder the book before publication. Early orders help determine whether a book reaches bestseller lists, whether booksellers continue to place it where new readers can find it, and whether its message generates a wider public conversation.
If you have already ordered, thank you. Please share this message with someone who wants to understand how economic power works behind the headlines. If you have been waiting, this is the day.
PREORDER YOUR COPY OF “THE ART OF THE STEAL” HERE
Future events & book signings
Thursday, September 10 • 5:30 PM
Book Passage
San Francisco, California
Monday, November 2 • 5:30 PM
Powell’s Books
Portland, Oregon
Thursday, November 5
Eagle Harbor Book Co.
Bainbridge Island, Washington
Learn more about our future events at my website —