ABSTRACT
A comparison can be made between on-the-brink Russia and the three Central European success stories of economic transition, Hungary, Poland, and the Czech Republic, but no ready conclusions can be drawn about the differing results from similar strategies. Transition experience varies considerably from country to country, depending greatly on political factors and pre-reform conditions, as well as on the official ideology. Faced with the decision to fight inflation with more inflation, and to cause great reductions in gross domestic product and social protection for an indeterminate period, rightly or wrongly, the transition economists did not retreat. No story of the transition to capitalism is complete without acknowledging the role of John Paul II. In retrospect, no more qualified or self-confident economist could have been found to serve as architect of Poland’s “shock therapy” transition. Hungary’s relatively mild shock-experience helped it become the admired tortoise among the success-trio nations.
