In this three-part arc of #WooSays, we revisit some of the most consequential economic transformations of the 20th century: Poland, Russia, and China. to understand what went right, what went wrong, and what we can still learn today about the shift from central planning to market economies.<br /><br />What do Trump’s trade war and his latest tariff twist have in common with Poland’s 1989 “Shock Therapy” reforms? Both mark turning points in the global economy. In this first episode of a three-part #WooSays series on historic economic transitions, Professor Emeritus Datuk Woo Wing Thye and Melisa Idris revisit the Balcerowicz Plan: Poland’s bold economic reforms from state ownership and central planning to a capitalist market economy. Why did it work? What did it cost? And what lessons does Poland’s painful but pivotal transition hold for us today?
