There are reasons to suspect the author's story as told. What stands out to me is that he really doesn't seem like the genius he portrays himself to be. It's po

There are reasons to suspect the author's story as told. What stands out to me is that he really doesn't seem like the genius he portrays himself to be. It's possible but doesn't seem likely that a Business Administration BA with two years of Peace Corps experience would suddenly be recruited by the NSA to be an economic hitman for a shadowy consulting firm. The firm fell apart 10 years later. The man who hired him (and later recanted some of his vague corroborations) was fired for insider trading and eventually ended up running a local Tuscon power company. His partner from his post-consulting enterprise (a power company of his own) admits they failed but that the author is a fun guy and full of ideas. This was followed by a pivot to writing books about shamanism, indigenous cultures and psychedelic experiences. Of course, the NSA version could be true. But the circumstantial evidence offers a simpler explanation where the author is embellishing or inventing his own role and first-hand knowledge of how global economic structures and forces operate. I don't want to discredit the macroeconomic skepticism. But I think there's a good chance this particular author is weaving things he's read about with things he's made up in his mind. https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/John_Perkins_(author) https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/John_Perkins_(author) https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Chas._T._Main https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Chas._T._Main http://www.bostonmagazine.com/2006/05/economic-hit-man/ http://www.bostonmagazine.com/2006/05/economic-hit-man/