John Perkins · Dispatches
Ideas for a changing world
Firsthand stories and essays about economic power, democracy, Indigenous wisdom, and the work of building a life economy.
Featured essay · September 7, 2026
The Hit Man Came Home
I never expected to see the economic hit man techniques I used overseas deployed so openly inside my own country and by the US government itself.
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Recent writing
One surprise after another.
Trump hits us with another economic hit man tactic every day, often several. Understanding how these tactics work is how we begin to end the system.
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When Economic Tactics Fail, Send in the Jackals
The methods I used abroad have turned inward. Recognizing that system is the first step toward changing it.
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John Perkins Reveals The Art of the Steal — David Korten
What if the deeper story of Trump isn't really about Trump—but about power?
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My Letter to Trump
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A Book about Trump that is not about Trump?!
I could think of no better way to celebrate the 250th anniversary of the signing of the Declaration of Independence than to write this book.
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How I Helped Build the System Trump Now Masters
In my years as an economic hit man, I bribed government officials in countries around the world. Legally.
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How I Helped Iran Close the Strait of Hormuz
By John Perkins I spent time in Bandar Abbas on the Strait of Hormuz in the 1970s. My company, Chas. T. Main Inc. (MAIN), was hired by the Shah (at the Pentagon’s urging) to help develop...
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The Voices that Guide Us
Deep inside a tunnel that 2000 years ago was cut through more than 400 feet of volcanic rock high in the Andes mountains of Ecuador, I thought about questions that humans have asked for m...
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Headed to Latin America. Venezuela?
In a few hours, I fly to Latin America. This trip has been planned for several months by an Emmy-nominated filmmaker. He and his team are shooting a documentary about the US’s economic hi...
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The Diminishing of America
By John Perkins I recently returned from speaking at major events in Tbilisi, Georgia, and Istanbul, Turkey, and Nashville, Tennessee. Georgia and Turkey are two nations with long histori...
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Dictator! A Revolutionary Update Told to John Perkins
Thomas Paine wrote “The American Crisis (1776)” as a call for Americans to take action against the authoritarianism of monarchy – and to act for democracy. It impacted General George Wash...
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