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But we did, almost all of us, explicitly or implicitly, whatever our analysis and policies, and we were wrong. The economic transformation of Eastern Europe has proved much more difficult, much more costly than we expected five years ago.

Those who remained academics rather than advisers have adjusted expectations, looked for new models, may even have changed views. Some participants with major stakes maintain there was no (better) alternative and claim vindication in the first signs of recovery. They finally see the light at the end of the tunnel under the vale of tears. Politics is unforgiving, and doubtless one cannot afford the luxury of admitting error. Nevertheless, there is a striking lack of academic detachment in some of the ex post rationalisations and special pleading that appear not just in newspapers, but also in the professional literature. Even in the journals, straw men are demolished with remarkable …