Why did Gajdar advocate for shock therapy?
The Soviet economic system was fundamentally unsustainable, characterized by deep distortions, inefficiencies, and a pervasive lack of incentives for productivity. I believed that a gradual transition would be met with entrenched resistance from those benefiting from the old system and would prolong the agony. Rapid, decisive liberalization, or 'shock therapy,' was intended to break these entrenched interests and force a rapid adaptation to market realities.
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