Truth or Deception?
Recently a friend came to me and spoke about a book he was reading about the international financial world and
suggested for me to read this as well as it provided much insight in the background of recent history in the energy
world and the current geopolitical and geostrategic developments.
The book, “Confessions of an economic hit man” from John Perkins has a quite spectacular title and also boosting critics on its cover, however the content is not spectacular; it is quite devastating. It concerns the workings of the international finance, engineering-, construction- and energy industry and how very respectable experts from very well known and respected corporations, using highly sophisticated financial forecasting instruments are providing hyped up expectations on growth figures for energy usage, “coaching” mostly poor or less-developed but resource-rich countries into huge development projects for which bloated loans from large international financial institution are needed to pay the contracts for the contractors from the country the experts are coming from, with in the background the intention for these countries being unable to pay their debts and so make them “open for suggestions of certain favours”.
The book gives a new level of insight in why things are developing the way they do in Latin America these days, in the Middle East, Central Asia and also in Africa and is highly recommended reading.
But there is more: looking at the expected reserves in certain areas or the expected growth figures of energy consumption for certain countries as professed by the very well known international institutions and consultants, the enormous loans for pipeline, refinery, or energy-development projects and the justification of these, in combination with the handling of information and the press-coverage of many events, it becomes clear that the level of deception in the energy world and in the energy-information world is probably truly staggering and that it will be ever more difficult to determine what actually is the truth of the matter, who is reliable and what figures and statistics actually can be trusted.
More than ever it becomes needed to keep an independent mind-set with a very high level of caution to what is so
readily available in easily accessible information.
It also gives another reason why we from Alexander”s Gas & Oil Connections work hard to provide news from a
very broad array of sources that will prevent us, and our readers, to be too susceptible to the apparently widespread
manipulation of figures.
Keep an open mind, and especially: keep your own mind! (and read this site!)
Alexander
Responses are always welcome at alexander@gas-oil-power.com
