An article written by Marcin Piatkowski discuss Poland's economic and social success and how over the past 30 years, they have not been receiving the attention they deserve. The author argues the Polish economy has been key to the European success story. This has not always been the case and in 1989, Poles earned less than citizens in Gabon, Ukraine, and Suriname. But since that year, the country has increased its GDP per capita by almost 150%. Looking at 2018, the average level of income in Poland exceeded two-thirds of those in the Eurozone.
Despite having almost no natural resources, Poland was able to grow and flourish through egalitarian, well-educated and socially mobile population. Poland caught up to the robust democratic West and has transitioned through many different governments since 1990. The country adopted economic policies for building infrastructure, foreign debt restructuring, and an increased focus in education and open privatization process. After abandoning planned economic practices from the end of WWII, high-quality policy makers like finance ministers and central bankers led the economic revival. Poland's investment in infrastructure such as broadband and adoption of the market system has contributed to their success.
Poland might have issues continuing their success given their aging population and low level of innovation. Furthermore, the EU is key to their success and without the union, Poland risks reverting to dark periods of economic history.
https://www.theglobalist.com/poland-economy-gdp-european-union/
1 comment:
While this is certainly an impressive record for Poland, would you argue that bailouts have also played a key role in helping them stay in this position of constant growth? I remember reading about the Vienna Initiative lending a big hand to certain economies including the Polish, and helping them out of the 2008 crisis. The alternative would have been austerity measures, and we likely would not be reading such an article today.
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