"I'll add "Confessions of an Economic Hit Man", by a less well known author, which is along similar lines.[1]"
No, you don't need to read this - it's a book of mostly fiction, by an author who's perspective is lacking any integrity.
The book reads near fiction by almost anyone who knows anything about how the world works.
One of the major premises of the book is that the entirety of the World Bank, IMF and all their operatives exist to 'enslave' other countries. As proof he offers the fact that his consulting company urged him to fudge some data on how much energy would be needed by Indonesia, which was about to get a large loan to make an electricity plant.
I don't doubt for a second that a sales team, hoping to get a large contract would fudge the numbers. But anyone who has actually worked with people from these agencies knows how laughable it is they are conspirators - they are mostly socialists, leftists, NGO 'save Africa' types who want to spend their time helping poor people.
What happens is that deeply corrupt leaders accept multibillion dollar loans from the IMF to 'build a power plant' - which is supposed to facilitate energy as a critical layer in the industrial base, thereby enabling other parts of the economy.
But the leaders usually skim huge amounts of the top - thereby making it impossible for ROI from the get-go. Then they award the construction contracts to their cronies, who are not only corrupt, but incompetent, and it doesn't get built. Or - a western entity is hired, and it does get built - with maybe too much capacity. Or the project was poorly conceived in the first place (central planning is often a bad idea).
And the reality has completely vindicated the so-called corrupt entity pushing Perkins to 'fudge up' the amount of projected electricity usage in Indonesia - in reality - Indonesia eventually grew and consumed considerably more electricity than John Perkins had anticipated - even more than his 'fudged up' numbers.
Some Western companies profit hugely off of this (i.e. Siemens), but they're not usually implied in any real wrongdoing.
This type of dysfunction is obvious to anyone familiar with these themes.
John Perkins seriously misrepresents the issues and creates a fantasy/conspiracy tale for the well-meaning but misinformed masses.
John Perkins also literally believes that he is a Shaman and can literally transform himself int o his 'animal spirit' forms, i.e. Puma. He hints at it in a few books, and admits it in one specific interview. He has books called 'shapeshifting' which implore people to 'change their lives' to exist better with planet earth - which is good - but the 'shapeshifting' does take on a literal and completely absurd meaning at one point. He's completely deluded.