John Perkins was a self-confessed economic hit man. He had his damascene conversion in the rainforests of the Amazon in conversation with shamans. As a result he has written extensively on economics and mystical aspects of indigenous cultures, not a usual combination. His most recent book is Touching the Jaguar: Transforming Fear into Action to Change Your Life and the World.
The Mint caught up with him to find out what he had learnt from indigenous cultures to apply to economics.
You can read the transcript here.