Jump to ratings and reviews
Rate this book

Conspiracy Books

Who Really Runs the World?

Rate this book
The world is a mess. It's constantly at war, things cost too much, and the average person struggles to survive against powers they can barely see, let alone control. It appears so at odds with common sense, in fact, that it begs a fundamental question: Who runs the world? This book looks at the conspiracies in everyday life, both hidden and not-so-hidden. It examines actual people, businesses, social networks, corporate alliances, and the dark forces of conspiracy and secret history that hold them together. The conclusions reached may shock and scandalize some people--especially those who fervently believe in democracy--but will fascinate everyone.

256 pages, Paperback

First published October 24, 2005

6 people are currently reading
60 people want to read

About the author

Thom Burnett

3 books

Ratings & Reviews

What do you think?
Rate this book

Friends & Following

Create a free account to discover what your friends think of this book!

Community Reviews

5 stars
5 (11%)
4 stars
13 (30%)
3 stars
15 (35%)
2 stars
7 (16%)
1 star
2 (4%)
Displaying 1 - 4 of 4 reviews
1,472 reviews20 followers
October 26, 2008
This book examines the conspiracies in present-day life, both hidden and public. It looks at the social networks, corporate alliances and forces of secret history holding them together.

For many years, there has been speculation about secret, shadowy groups who actually control the world. As far as America is concerned, the authors examine groups like Skull and Bones, the Illuminati, the Freemasons and the Bilderberg Group, but none of them really fit as the Group In Charge. According to the authors, a much more plausible place to look is the New York based, and un-secret, Council on Foreign Relations. For most of the 20th Century, it has been the place to go for new administrations to fill their defense and foreign policy jobs.

The book also looks at the role of money in the present day (money really does make the world go round). America’s central bank was founded in the early 1900s by a group of bankers during a very secret meeting at a place called Jekyll Island, Georgia. The new institution was specifically called the Federal Reserve System to get away from the words "central bank." Banking and secrecy seem to go together perfectly. That is part of the reason why governments and corporations move hundreds of billions of dollars around the world at any time, in search of the most favorable tax rates. Sometimes, banks are formed specifically to hide, or finance, illegal activities; two recent examples are BCCI and the Nugan Hand Bank from Australia.

Another avenue for corporations to reinforce their power is through institutions like the International Monetary Fund. It was intended to provide short-term loans to member countries. After the 1980s debt crisis, it now imposes harsh financial conditions on member states alongside its loan packages. It serves Wall Street and wealthy countries; it promotes corporate welfare and has no accountability, and it hurts workers, women and the environment.

This is an excellent book with a lot of information that will not be found in the mainstream media. It is really easy to read, and will certainly keep the reader interested.

Profile Image for Ryan.
4 reviews1 follower
July 25, 2007
It's a pretty sober conspiracy books. No aliens, pagan rituals, or 9/11 conspiracy theories. It just basically breaks down the realities of globalization and shit like that. It does get a bit dry at times, but when you can follow it, it is interesting.
Profile Image for Henrik.
268 reviews7 followers
March 28, 2024
A not-so-conspiratorical Conspiracy book. The book opens by dismissing more far-fetched theories (ala David Icke), and proceeds to look at various examples of corruption and nepotism amongst powerful corporations, governments and organizations.

The book is nearly 20 years old, and it is interesting to see how little has changed, but I feel like most of the core talking points here are now no longer seen as "conspiratorical", but common knowledge. Corporations value profit over anything else, and ruin the environment, outsource jobs, exploit workers, and do shady deals with governments that are detrimental to the average population - everybody knows this.

The book attempts to be broad in its scope, and there is no one coherent focus, instead it can be summed up with "money runs the world", which, again, is nothing new and surprising. There are books, articles and journalists mentioned that can be of interest for readers wanting to delve deeper into the covered topics. It was also interesting to see the NSA get called out for spying on US citizens and their allies since its inception, considering how this book came out before the Snowden revelations when this became common knowledge (and subsequently ignored by everyone..).
Displaying 1 - 4 of 4 reviews

Can't find what you're looking for?

Get help and learn more about the design.