When the Berlin Wall fell on November 9, 1989, 36 years ago, it symbolized more than the collapse of a barrier dividing East and West Berlin. It represented the disintegration of a worldview — the end of the ideological rivalry that had defined the Cold War. Yet, in its rubble, a new orthodoxy arose: the Washington Consensus.

As Germany embraced reunification, governments from Eastern Europe to Latin America turned westward, adopting policies that reflected a new global faith in markets. Deregulation, liberalization, privatization — these became the commandments of reform. The state was no longer the central planner; the market was the invisible conductor. The promise was simple: open economies, integrate globally, and prosperity would follow.

In its early years, this paradigm seemed vindicated. Capital flowed into newly liberal democracies, inflation plummeted across former socialist economies, and trade barriers fell. The International Monetary Fund and World Bank became gatekeepers of a single model of development, while multinational corporations extended their reach into territories once shielded by ideology.

But the Washington Consensus also carried its own iron curtain — one not of concrete, but of policy rigidity. The rapid transition from command to market economies left deep scars. Factories closed overnight, social........

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