The three main areas where my direct advice went unheeded were the following: (1) the need for large - scale financial assistance [29] for Russia, which I deemed (and still deem) to have been
essential to molding a political consensus around reforms, and to bolstering the financial situation enough to achieve a modicum of success in the fight against hyperinflation; (2) the need for strong monetary and fiscal policy to achieve a rapid end to inflation [30]; and (3) the urgency of establishing a
social safety net [31], especially in health care and pensions, to ensure an adequate
social and political base for societal transformation and democratization.