# Confessions of an Economic Hitman by John Perkins

6 Hacker News commenters recommended Confessions of an Economic Hitman by John Perkins and 1 criticized it, November 2025 to November 2026. It was recommended in 6 of 13 months.

**Verdict:** Recommended as an overview of US relations with Saudi Arabia and how Saudi Arabia was set up, though one critic dismisses it as trash.

## Why people recommend it

- Overview of US-Saudi relations (2 comments): "do a good job of describing the relation between the US and the Saudis" ([source](https://news.ycombinator.com/item?id=50207979)) "its a good overview of how Saudi was set up" ([source](https://news.ycombinator.com/item?id=49909291))
- Strong pick among similar books (2 comments): "it's hard to go past Confessions of an Economic Hitman" ([source](https://news.ycombinator.com/item?id=47907649)) "is a book with a similar theme" ([source](https://news.ycombinator.com/item?id=47889187))

## Alternatives hackers recommend

- [The Cuckoo's Egg by Cliff Stoll](https://hackerapproved.com/p/cuckoo-s-egg.md): 40 recommend
- [Amusing Ourselves to Death by Neil Postman](https://hackerapproved.com/p/amusing-ourselves-to-death.md): 36 recommend
- [The Anxious Generation by Jonathan Haidt](https://hackerapproved.com/p/anxious-generation.md): 24 recommend
- [Bullshit Jobs by David Graeber](https://hackerapproved.com/p/bullshit-jobs.md): 20 recommend
- [Enshittification by Cory Doctorow](https://hackerapproved.com/p/enshittification.md): 19 recommend

## Where to get it

- [See price on Amazon](https://www.amazon.com/dp/1427087709?tag=hackerapprove-20) (affiliate link)
- [Bookshop.org](https://bookshop.org/a/130825/9781427087706) (affiliate link)

## Cite as

Hacker Approved, "Confessions of an Economic Hitman by John Perkins", https://hackerapproved.com/p/confessions-of-an-economic-hitman/ (counts from 1,795,640 Hacker News comments, November 2025 to November 2026).