Confessions of an Economic Hit Man...
Finished reading Confessions of an Economic Hit Man a while back, and I've been meaning to write about it since then.
It tells the story of John Perkins, who was hired as an economist by one of the big US construction companies, and his job was to go into third world countries, convince the people in power to accept aid from the world bank, which would go directly to US companies to 'modernise' the country.
This 'convincing' was often underhanded and usually involved convincing them that they personally would end up much better off, and the country would end up okay as well.
However, in every country he went to which agreed to the aid, poverty levels rose substantially after these projects that were supposed to solve the poverty, and the aid usually came with big strings attached.
In almost every case, the country receiving the aid wouldn't be able to repay the debt (and he knew it), and meant the country would end up being dictated to by the US about how to run the country, effectively making the country a 'trusteeship'.
The book pretty much tells the inside story on the American empire - not run by governments though, run by corporate, and more to the point, corporate greed.
It really explains why the Americans are so hated in the middle east, why so many countries are still struggling with debt and poverty. It really makes you think about how much power the American corporates do have, and how much better this place could be.
There's been a lot of mud flung at the author and this book - by the US government, by the NSA, and a whole lot of people - but just the kind of response you'd expect if it was true. Though, it may be fiction, may not be, but its definitely worth a read.