This economic meltdown is not a fluke

Dear friends,

This economic meltdown is not a fluke.

It had to happen to shake us awake.

An economic system where less than 5% of the world’s population (us in the U.S.) consumes more than 25% of the resources is not a viable model. It can not be replicated in China, India, Africa, or Latin America.

It is a failure.

We must change it.

That is why I wrote my latest book HOODWINKED. It describes the deep underlying causes of the current crises and provides a blueprint for change, for creating a world our children will want to inherit.

HOODWINKED (Random House) will be in bookstores Nov 10, 2009, but I urge you to pre-order today. I truly hope this book will empower the change that needs to take place during this crisis. I know that many of you have been great supporters of all my work and I hope that you can assist me by sending this email to as many people as you can to help lift the visibility of the book.

You can pre-order through your favorite Internet shop – although if you go through http://www.dreamchang.org , a % of the sale price will be contributed to the nonprofit I founded nearly 20 years ago.

HOODWINKED is by far the most important book I have written.

Please share this email with all your lists and please follow me on Twitter - @economic_hitman .

A more detailed description is below. I’m also looking forward to seeing you at one of the many upcoming speaking events. The list for all events can be found on my website – http://www.johnperkins.org as well as on my Facebook Fan Page – John Perkins Author .

Many thanks and blessings,

John Perkins

_______________________________________________

HOODWINKED!

An Economic Hit Man Reveals Why the World Financial Markets Imploded
And What We Need to Do to Remake Them


By
John Perkins
Bestselling author of
CONFESSIONS OF AN ECONOMIC HIT MAN

Former economic hit man John Perkins has experienced today’s economic collapse before. The banking industry and sub-prime mortgage fiascos, the rising tide of unemployment, and the shuttering of businesses are all too familiar in the Third World countries where he worked. He was both an observer and a perpetrator of events that have now sent the US – in fact the entire planet – spiraling toward disaster.

The real cause of our global financial meltdown is what Perkins calls predatory capitalism – the mutant form of an economic system that encourages widespread exploitation of the few to benefit a small number of already very wealthy people. A new geo-politics has emerged; today the CEOs of big corporations, rather than governments, control human and natural resources around the globe, as well as politicians and the media. Their arrogance, gluttony, and mismanagement have brought us to the perilous edge. The solutions will not be "return to normal ones".

There is a way out. “Unlike other empires,” Perkins says, “this one is not built primarily on the back of the military. It is subtle, market-based, and it depends on our voluntary choices. We hold the power – if we only recognize it.” Hoodwinked provides a blueprint for creating an economy that fosters a sustainable, just, and peaceful world for us and our children. It offers concrete actions each and every one of us can take.

John Perkins is the bestselling author of the classic expose Confessions of an Economic Hit Man and an economist who has enjoyed a front-row seat to world events for the past four decades—as the Chief Economist of a major consulting firm and economic hit man for the American corporatocracy in the 1970s, CEO of an energy company in the 1980s, and founder of nonprofits in the 1990s and 2000s. He spent the past 5 years traveling across the US and to many other countries where he met with government and corporate leaders, spoke at universities and business conferences, dialogued with people from all walks of life, and gained invaluable insights into the underlying causes of the current crisis. Now, in Hoodwinked, he shares those experiences, along with in-depth analysis, and the exciting stories about economic hit men, rogue politicians, and the secret world of CIA-sponsored jackals similar to ones readers thrilled to in Confessions.
________________________________________________

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, author of A People’s History of the United States and retired professor of Political Science at Boston University

Another thriller from the master storyteller with an insider view. Perkins takes us once again into the dark nether world 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, author of Ecological Intelligence and Emotional Intelligence

Visit us anytime on the web at www.dreamchange.org.