Hoodwinked

An Economic Hit Man Reveals Why the Global Economy IMPLODED - and How to Fix It

By: John Perkins

Narrated by: David Ackroyd

John Perkins has seen the signs of today's economic meltdown before. The subprime mortgage fiascos, the banking industry collapse, the rising tide of unemployment, the shuttering of small businesses across the landscape are all too familiar symptoms of a far greater disease.

In his former life as an economic hit man, he was on the front lines both as an observer and a perpetrator of events, once confined only to the third world, that have now sent the United States—and in fact the entire planet—spiraling toward disaster. Here, Perkins pulls back the curtain on the real cause of the current global financial meltdown. He shows how we've been hoodwinked by the CEOs who run the corporatocracy—those few corporations that control the vast amounts of capital, land, and resources around the globe—and the politicians they manipulate. These corporate fat cats, Perkins explains, have sold us all on what he calls predatory capitalism, a misguided form of geopolitics and capitalism that encourages a widespread exploitation of the many to benefit a small number of the already very wealthy. Their arrogance, gluttony, and mismanagement have brought us to this perilous edge. The solution is not a "return to normal."But there is a way out. As Perkins makes clear, we can create a healthy economy that will encourage businesses to act responsibly, not only in the interests of their shareholders and corporate partners (and the lobbyists they have in their pockets), but in the interests of their employees, their customers, the environment, and society at large.We can create a society that fosters a just, sustainable, and safe world for us and our children. Each one of us makes these choices every day, in ways that are clearly spelled out in this book. "We hold the power," he says, "if only we recognize it."

Hoodwinked is a powerful polemic that shows not only how we arrived at this precarious point in our history but also what we must do to stop the global tailspin.

©2009 John Perkins (P)2009 Random House

Critic reviews

"John Perkins has been in and out of the world of high finance and low ethics, and in Hoodwinked he not only illuminates that world with dramatic stories and keen insights, but suggests what we might do to create a better society." —Howard Zinn, bestselling author of A People's History of the United States

"Another thriller from the master storyteller with an insider view. Perkins takes us once again into the dark netherworld of corrupt bankers and economic hit men who lure the unsuspecting into financial ruin and reveals the connection between the folks who for decades enriched themselves at the expense of the world's poor and those who now reap billions at the expense of America. Same people, same scams."—David Korten, author of Agenda for a New Economy and The Great Turning, and board chair of YES! magazine

"John Perkins' engaging narrative draws us into a brilliant analysis of capitalism's shadow side, and points us to a hopeful path to a better future. Hoodwinked is a must-read for anyone who cares about our economic welfare, social justice, and our collective well-being."—DANIEL GOLEMAN, bestselling author of Emotional Intelligence and Ecological Intelligence Acclaim for Confessions of an Economic Hit Man

Bubble burst!

My entire view of economics thru Hayek and Friedman has burst!
Incredibly written. And challenging!!!

Hoodwinked is what our government has done to us.

If you could sum up Hoodwinked in three words, what would they be?

Very good

What was one of the most memorable moments of Hoodwinked?

The corruption of governments including the us.

What does David Ackroyd bring to the story that you wouldn’t experience if you just read the book?

Puts life to the story.

What’s the most interesting tidbit you’ve picked up from this book?

The deception of the American people.

Any additional comments?

Wake up to who is really running the Our Government.

Enough with the holier than thou, already

Any additional comments?

I am probably one of the last people outside the USA who actually admire American culture, ingenuity and creativity. However, moral superiority trips really creep me out. Belief in moral absolutes puts Perkins in the same category as Chairman Mao. Mao was right that the "olds" were holding China back. However, he nearly destroyed his country and their people by insisting on the instant destruction of the "olds" and set the country back many decades and caused much unnecessary suffering with the cultural revolution.

Except, Perkins wouldn't want that kind of moral absolutism for his own country. In his own country, gradualism would suffice.

At least Mao did it to his own people, he did not preach to the rest of the world to destroy the "olds" while tolerating foot-binding in his own country.I was born and live in one of those countries that Perkins enumerated as having been "helped" by the new-agey "teach-in" actions of "caring people" on US campuses of the 60s.

If only Perkins and his sanctimonious ilk would realize how much harm they did with their combination of sanctimony, hypocrisy and sentimentality; demanding moral absolutes be immediately enforced on a country they did not understand and damn the consequences. Of course, moral absolutes apply to other people's situations, gradualism is best for Perkins's own country and safe little family and grandchildren. Now my country is a popular destination for American "compassion tourists", their little faces shining with the holiness of saints visiting a place of miracle, still too ignorant to realize that the pitiful state we are in now, is because of their self-righteous 60s parents' ignorant, inappropriate "campus teach-ins" of moral absolutes, not gradualism.

Actually the 1960s US campus "teach-ins" had nothing to do with helping us. Those teach-ins were the magician's sleight of hand to turn Americans' attention away from what was happening in America itself at the time. Point a sanctimonious finger at others and nobody would examine what was happening in America, or examine its own history compared to the people they were condemning.

Excellent. Must read.

Come on if we are to be a democracy we must know what our US foreign policy really is and then choose leaders that espouse and act on the foreign policy we desire.
This book should be read by everyone.

when will we wake up

I have read bits and peaces about the corporate crap Perkins is pointing to but this is the most frank discussion I have seen except for Nom Chomsky's work.

Left open minded

Where does Hoodwinked rank among all the audiobooks you’ve listened to so far?

It's a good book. Shows that the invisible hand is a work...the people behind the Goverment though. A little preachy at the end but the guy is passionate.

What did you like best about this story?

A lot of truth.

Have you listened to any of David Ackroyd’s other performances before? How does this one compare?

No

Very revealing and interesting

This was interesting right up to the last second. Nice facts well prepared and well presented

Concise world view by very problematic author

In a way I feel hoodwinked by the author now that I have read his 3 major books because they all say the same thing in a long and drawn out way … and I have to say if you want to buy one of these books get the last ones and skip paying money for repetition.

I believe Perkins describes the world of the "corporatocracy" as he sees it and has apparently experienced it well. It seems to make sense and be consistent.

My problem is Perkins himself. Here is a guy who has everything, he operated as a self-described hit man (economic) for some long amount of time, enough to amass a lot of wealth, power and a network, and only then he turned on his masters and his way of life and wrote a rather superficial expose. Perkins has his cake and eats it too. What did he really do, and what is he holding back? He must have lots of "EHM" connections around the world whose stories he could add to his books,and describe more of how this corporatocracy works instead of handwaving.

Certainly the names are changed, and the story rings enough true that he does not have to get, nor does he get very specific about much that he writes about. Towards the end almost in order to avoid being specific he starts to get new-agey about the whole subject and has in fact apparently written books about shape-shifting, turning into animals or existing on the spirtual plane … which seems to me to appeal to a certain kind of not very analytic reader. It seems that is the audience he is aiming for … the folks who are not very analytical or logical. Do a search on Google for blogs where his stuff gets mentioned and you can see what I mean. If this guy was really who and what he claimed I would think he could appeal to a more intellectual crowd.

So as I read Perkins' books I am stuck in uncertainty of the value of reading the book. Although most of the ideas Perkins discusses I knew about from reading political books for a long time, Perkins gets away with really doing very little work except storytelling in all of this books. Perkins feels like a con man to me and that is my problem with his books and his ideas. I think there is much more depth and more hidden agenda here than Perkins lets on, and he carefully truncates any mention of anything beyond the simplistic ideas he sells sensationalistically.

Does he get specific, no. Perkins is just another voice in the wilderness among many people who profit from all these awful things by writing about them, but what is he doing about except taking trips all over the world with celebrities and playing both sides of the issue. That does not help anything, and nothing in the books really explains how to change things.

Maybe he is even right about things, there is nothing else to do but join em if you can't beat em, but I don't think Perkins' books do much other than add to the author's celebrity and bank account.

If you are unfamiliar with Perkins' ideas and feel you have to know what he is all about I would just recommend reading whatever his latest book it, aside from the new age books on spirituality, because if you've read one you've read them all, and they do get better as he writes more. I am sure he will keep at it and maybe even hopefully really pull back the curtain and what is going on and the big plan for the world and who is driving it where, or he could just keep churning our retreads.

Redundant and rambling

Would you try another book from John Perkins and/or David Ackroyd?

Read "Confessions..." if you haven't -- it's amazing! This book repeats that one and preaches as well. I hate to give JP a bad review. I've met him and I think he is an inspiring, genuine and truly good and great person -- I just wish I hadn't spent my monthly credit on this book that doesn't really add anything new to "Confessions" -- plus I already share a worldview with JP -- therefore, listening to him preach the basics of responsible consumership and criminal corporate-government behavior, etc., made me wonder who the audience for this book was supposed to be and if that was a muddled concept. I was expecting more detail into the 2008 crisis but JP only goes over that in broad strokes and briefly.

Society is not an Elaborate Hoax

First off, I want to sincerely thank John for his other books, namely, 'Confessions of an Economic Hitman' and 'The Secret History of the American Empire.' But, here is where I must bid adieu to his understanding of reality. We all hate the dark underbelly of civilization. John blames America and capitalism. However, in his quest to form a coherent alternative to modern society, his book spirals out into a delusional utopia.

Folks, if you loved his book, then it's because you have a big heart and for that I won't blame you. However, please realize where this line of thinking really takes you. The alternative to money and voluntary trade....is brute force. Societies that reject money have not found a better way to value human action. Good will? Power and force ALWAYS fill the vacuum and become the currency. Then human beings are DEVALUED as a result.

John sympathizes with Somali pirates and finds terrorism excusable. John applauds South American efforts to give plants equal rights with human beings enforceable by law. John torpedoes Bill Gates and other wealthy philanthropists as frauds (their charity doesn't count because their are capitalists). John admires authoritarian China where diversity is buried beneath a billion people of a single race. In the end, I hear John's invocation of human passion...something that sounds wonderful, but historically has served as an excuse to reject rationality in order to use FORCE against those you oppose.

Yes, as our world becomes more complex, the less we will understand all the moving parts. We all wake up, look out our window, and see the world in a snapshot. We see bad things and want to change them. But I beg intelligent people everywhere, do not embrace primitivism as this book suggests.

We're not being 'hoodwinked'...we are part of a global civilization than John has clearly rejected.