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A Game as Old as Empire: The Secret World of Economic Hit Men and the Web of Global Corruption | 
 enlarge | Creators: Steven Hiatt, John Perkins
Publisher: Berrett-Koehler Publishers
Category: Book
List Price: $24.95
Buy Used: $10.79
You Save: $14.16 (57%)
New (39) Used (25) from $10.79
Avg. Customer Rating:  9 reviews
Sales Rank: 27043
Media: Hardcover
Number Of Items: 1
Pages: 310
Shipping Weight (lbs): 1.3
Dimensions (in): 9.3 x 6.3 x 1.3
ISBN: 1576753956
Dewey Decimal Number: 364.1323
EAN: 9781576753958
ASIN: 1576753956
Publication Date: February 28, 2007
Availability: Usually ships in 1-2 business days
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Product Description
John Perkins's sensational New York Times bestseller Confessions of an Economic Hit Man (more than 300,000 sold) revealed just the tip of the iceberg of the secret world of economic hit men and the web of global corruption. Now more economic hit men and investigators tell the whole shocking story.
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| Customer Reviews: Read 4 more reviews...
 This should be required reading... February 7, 2008
1 out of 1 found this review helpful
But--do not read this book if your mind is not open to hearing the truth about how things really are. If you are at all curious about how the world works, then this book will certainly begin to answer the questions you have. You should read this in tandem with John Perkins' "Confessions of an Economic Hit Man".
 paints a very sinister picture of the world January 28, 2008
1 out of 2 found this review helpful
greed will consume all and money is the root of all evil. the narratives in this book further highlight this basic fact and the human fallacy of being needy to the point of destruction. proves that economics is not really a zero sum game after all.
Good reference book for "Confessions of an Economic Hit Man" October 8, 2007
4 out of 4 found this review helpful
This book completely documents how large multinational corporations together with the IMF, The World Bank, and the various "free trade" organizations, as well rule the world and effectively rob from the poor and middle class and increase the wealth of the already wealthy.
It dramatically underscores the fact that if we don't act, and act now, we will be facing a world of new "serfdom", if the world isn't destroyed altogether by the greed and connivery of the world's rich.
This book is a good read, but tends to be a bit dry for the average person. One would be better off tackling books such as John Perkins "Confessions of an Enonomic Hit Man" and "The Secret History of the American Empire" as well as John Howard Kunzler's "The Long Energency" before tackling this book.
A Context the Opposite of What We're Told August 17, 2007
10 out of 10 found this review helpful
As an ex-international banker who quit banking for the same reasons John Perkins quit being an Economic Hit Man, I can vouch for the truth of every essay in this fine book. The underlying truth is: the world is increasingly run by the corporatocracy, and it has negligible concern for either the poor countries it purports to help nor the environment in which it functions. The truth is the opposite of what we would like and pretend to be true. And the corporatocracy doesn't just behave as it does in foreign, underdeveloped countries, it behaves the exact same way here at home. The mortgage scandle is the same kind of hustle - selling bad debt to unsophisticated borrowers and investors. The only difference is that the poor people who default on their mortgages don't have natural resources the lenders can now take. Fascism redux.
This is a brilliant book. One can already see how the corporatocracy is ignoring it. It will be interesting to see how it plays out.
The Dark Underbelly of International Economics June 27, 2007
24 out of 24 found this review helpful
In CONFESSIONS OF AN ECONOMIC HIT MAN, John Perkins outlined his 20-year career as agent of the government and multinational corporations as they attempted to (and succeeded in) exploiting lesser-developed countries. That book, published by Berrett-Koehler in 2004, painted a rather gloomy picture of the dark side of globalization - in theory, a worthy endeavor.
A GAME AS OLD AS EMPIRE, edited by Steven Hiatt with an introduction by Mr. Perkins, continues the story of this exploitation, abuse, and waste in the name of "globalization." Let me say - as an aside - that I remain a proponent of globalization within the context of responsible stewardship. Removing barriers to trade, offering educational, vocational, and economic opportunities to men and women of all nations, is a good thing. Done properly, economic development and stewardship offers the possibility of true societal progress, ennobling humanity, enriching lives, nurturing the environment and increasing business activity and profits.
Unfortunately, the reality is far different from the ideal. The shortsightedness and greed of political and leaders - focused only on personal enrichment or the next quarter's operating results - leads to a culture of global exploitation. The pattern is familiar: special interests descend like locusts, consume everything in their path, and then move on, leaving a wake of destruction, degradation, and despair.
The book presents a compelling exploration of these economic and human abuses through other voices, most of those voices from men and women that participated for a time in the dance of exploitation for their temporal masters. The individual essays focus on a number of issues ranging from the stranglehold of foreign debt, the culture of ineptitude and corruption in many aspects of international banking, and the unconscionable extraction of natural resources (as in the Congo) at the high cost of human life and economic prosperity.
A GAME AS OLD AS EMPIRE is expectedly one-sided in that it shows only the abuse and corruption of international economics. There are many businesses that operate with high-principles and integrity (while maintaining high earnings for both its management as well as other constituents). However, the book serves an important purpose in that it shows that all is not sunshine and roses in the global economy. There is corruption, waste, incompetence, and short-sightedness that is unacceptable from not only a human standpoint, but from a business valuation perspective as well. I would recommend this book to anyone who seeks to undertake an intelligent study of the state of international economics in the real world.
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