On the Lost Purpose of Transition

Abstract

After quarter of a century, it is not a waste of time to reassess the effects of the transition process. Have we missed the purpose? The transition can be given scrutiny via different models, but also through the integration process which runs danger of falling into the pit of the constructivism. The transition was (or should have been) about moving from a hampered into an unhampered market society in the first place. It is obvious that we are far from there. That is why some international financial organisations such as IMF or EBRD seem to be changing their focus. Probably logically so, but the true question is whether the process and the policymaking is about letting an individual make decisions freely, or about reconstructing paternalism in different forms. The recent economic crisis does not help either. Reducing corruption and increasing transparency along with long haul education reforms that spur entrepreneurial spirit in order to make political and market reforms sustainable, may be a quest to seek the lost purpose of transition.