CIA has expanded a high-risk plan to spy on U.S. economic competitors from 1995

The CIA Crosses Over

Even as a Congressional commission investigates the agency’s cold war incompetence, the CIA has expanded a high-risk plan to spy on U.S. economic competitors. our exclusive report exposes this secret program

Robert Dreyfuss’ revelation that the CIA is engaged in economic espionage (“Company Spies,” June 1994) was covered extensively in Japan, but so far no American newspaper or network has touched the story. Now, Dreyfuss offers more proof.

That ghost, a Central Intelligence Agency program revived by the late director in the 1980s, marries the spy agency to corporate America in order to gather intelligence on economics, trade, and technology. Now that the Cold War is over, agency officials have latched onto the idea of collecting clandestine economic data to justify the CIA’s inflated budget, even as the CIA’s competence–indeed, its very existence–is being questioned.

Just wow since the 80's not a shock is it.

http://www.motherjones.com/politics/1995/01/cia-crosses-over/