Part 5/9:
When Perkins was posed with the ethical implications of these loans, he indicated an awareness early on of the mechanics at play: that loans would not be repaid, akin to a mortgage on a home where collateral is lost after default. He affirms that while the immediate gains were beneficial for wealthy executives and corporations, the socio-economic consequences were dire for the populace of the target nations.
Perkins' awakening to the stark reality of this model came after several years in the field. The metrics used to evaluate economic growth—like GDP—skewed perceptions of progress, masking the crippling impacts on the average citizen.