Irresponsible experts

The conditions under which external experts are hired to give advice are such that usually they are responsible neither to the host country nor to the host organization for their recommendations, should they prove to be totally incorrect. Often they may be unfamiliar with the special conditions of the country to which they are called and are unable to remain there long enough to acquire such experience (partly for fear of being by-passed in their parent institutions, partly because the salaries demanded are exorbitant by host country standards). Those who do remain long enough tend to live among the social elite, associating mainly with other foreigners, and remaining aloof from their opposite numbers in the host country who live in humbler surroundings. To the extent that they are highly specialized, they are not particularly concerned to reach agreement with other experts in order to provide coherent recommendations taking into account the insights deriving from a variety of disciplines. Thus advice which is technically correct may in effect be economically catastrophic.

Russians have complained that, after the breakup of the Soviet Union, they were flooded with foreign advisors and consultants who charged high fees and then left without having made any significant contribution.