The best minds in academia also advocated the "shock therapy" approach to post-communist countries, which was also forced upon these countries if they wanted lo

The best minds in academia also advocated the "shock therapy" approach to post-communist countries, which was also forced upon these countries if they wanted loans and aid from the IMF, World Bank, and the west in general. Things didn't turn out well. What actually worked best was a more gradualist approach dictated from within. Which is not to say that external advice was disregarded, but was taken selectively. To root this more for HN viewers, imagine if VCs or Harvard MBAs dictated to your startup everything, such as your strategy, what to build, etc. It's best when solutions are grown from within coupled with advice and support. Relevant reading material for this view: economist Frederic Mishkin's The Next Great Globalization: How Disadvantaged Nations Can Harness Their Financial Systems to Get Rich (don't let the title turn you off) and nobel economist Joseph Stiglitz has a number of books on this topic