Transition.

The intention in this article is to consider some basic questions of transition after the more than ten years that have elapsed since this process has started, and after the emergence of a huge literature which tries to explain it. The structure of the article is as it follows: Part I is about a tentative definition of transition, followed by part II, which presents an analysis of the big-bang theory, probably the most popular policy recommendation for post-communist reforms. Part III is about privatization, which championed the attention of economists dealing with transition. It is argued that policy recommendations are unlikely to work during transition in the East Europe, if they do not take into account specific conditions in these countries; since conditions are quite different and since they change during reform, a strong commitment to reform is more important than a ready-made program. That indicates why nearly all policy recommendations of western experts (and those experts from East Europe who support them) have missed the point.