BBB Postcard #40 — Has Trump Made Those Economic Hit Men Redundant?

TL;DR

Phil Anderson draws striking historical parallels between Nazi Germany’s enablers and the current US administration, comparing Trump’s direct resource-grab approach to the Cold War-era “Economic Hit Men” described by John Perkins. Where the US once used debt-trap diplomacy via operatives like Perkins to subjugate developing nations, Trump has cut out the middleman — directly abducting leaders, bombing countries, and installing his family in the companies that secure the resources. Phil recommends the Shepheard-Walwyn interview with Perkins as essential viewing.

Key Points

• Historical pattern recognition: Phil draws on W.D. Gann’s proof that history repeats in set time frames, drawing parallels between Nazi Germany’s systems and the current US administration.
• Pentagon testosterone program: Defense Secretary Hegseth’s “High-T” fighting force initiative — Phil compares to Nazi Aryan soldier ideology, noting the irony that both “ideal Aryan soldier” (Werner Goldberg) and “perfect Aryan child” (Hessy Taft) selected by the Nazis were Jewish.
• Hitler’s self-enrichment: Royalties on his likeness (stamps, buildings), book royalties, tax exemption, slush fund from industrialists. Henry Ford among the enablers. Hitler would have been one of the wealthiest persons in the world by early 1940s.
• Economic Hit Men (EHM) — the Perkins framework: John Perkins’ Confessions of an Economic Hit Man describes how the US used debt-trap strategy to force developing nations into debt, then extract political control, military bases, and resource access. If EHM failed, “Jackals” (CIA assassins) were sent in. Perkins cites the 1981 deaths of President Roldós of Ecuador and Omar Torrijos of Panama as examples.
• Trump has cut out the EHM middleman: Instead of using operatives to debt-trap nations, Trump directly abducts leaders, bombs countries, and involves his family in the companies securing resources and warfare/drone manufacturing.
• It’s all about resource control in USD: The pattern is consistent — secure resources, ensure they’re traded in dollars, maintain the exorbitant privilege.
• Perkins interview on Shepheard-Walwyn podcast: Covers debt as political tool, GDP as misleading prosperity measure, the four forces (fear, debt, scarcity, division), and the need to move from a “Death Economy” to a “Life Economy.”
• February 2020 Forecast Class reference: Phil directs subscribers to the heavily restricted PSE class for deeper analysis of how history repeats in set time frames.

Notable Quotes

“Donald Trump is the logical outcome of a system of the enclosure into private hands of Economic Rent. A value created by the entire community.” — Phil Anderson (repeated from sub-email #23) “Trump is no longer bothering with such EHM now. He’s just going in and abducting a leader or thinking he can bomb a country into submission. And then have his family involved with the companies used to secure the natural resources or own the warfare and drone companies.” — Phil Anderson

Watchlist Changes

None explicit in this email.

Emma’s Analysis

This is a politically charged but analytically important email. Phil’s framework — that the enclosure of economic rent inevitably leads to both economic and physical violence — is the deep structure of the 18.6-year cycle. The EHM comparison is illuminating: the Cold War system used debt as a weapon (Perkins’ account), while the current system has evolved to direct military force. Both are expressions of rent-seeking at the nation-state level. The Pentagon testosterone program / Nazi parallel is Phil at his most provocative, but the underlying point is about the pattern of militarized masculinity as a late-empire signal. The Perkins interview is worth tracking for the wiki’s resource section — his “Death Economy to Life Economy” framing aligns with the Georgist philosophy that underpins the 18.6-year cycle framework. This email connects to the concept of resource wars as end-cycle phenomena — the 1973 OPEC embargo, the 2003 Iraq War, and now the 2026 Iran conflict all occur at cycle peaks.

[Source: BBB, postcard-40-2026]