"Shock therapy" was originally a medical term and was introduced into the economic field by American economist Jeffrey Sachs in the mid-1980s.

This was done when Sachs was hired as an economic adviser to the Bolivian government.

Based on the economic crisis in Bolivia, Sacks proposed a set of economic programs and economic policies. The main contents are economic liberalization, economic privatization, economic stabilization, and the implementation of tight financial and fiscal policies.