The Eastern transition to a market economy: a global perspective

This paper contains the text of a series of public lectures given by Professor Williamson at the LSE on February 24 and 25 1992. Professor Williamson is the first holder of the British Petroleum Professorship, awarded annually to a visiting academic of the highest standing. The lecture covers the failure of socialism, and the design of the subsequent reform programmes. He argues that although with hindsight the transition process could have been handled slightly differently, aborting the transition process because of the problems associated with it is not the answer.