Poland - 30 years after beginning of the transformation

India Quarterly: A Journal of International Affairs, 2002

The year1 989 proved to be a turning p i n t in the history of Eastern Europe as so many factors acting together brought down the collapse of communism. Communist regimes in Berlin, Budapest, Warsaw, Prague and Sofia tumbled down within one year, though suprisingly in a peaceful way, with the exception of Romania where grave bloodshed occurred. Poland and Hungary were the first to take a leap towards niw direction, followed by other countries of Eastern Europe. After a long struggle Solidarity, which once upon a time was branded illegal, came to power in Poland and ultimately a non-communist government led by the Premier Tadeusz Mazowiecki was established. Opposition to the communist rule in Poland started quite early but it was crushed by the communists with an iron fist. In 1956, there were anti-government demonstrations in Ponan and in other cities of Poland against the communist government's policies. Again in 1968 student riots occurred in Warsaw followed by the eruption ofworkers' protests in the Baltic port cities of Gdansk, Warsaw and Gydnia. Then in the 1970s, Polish dissidents established a "flyinguniversity" which used to m.ove from place to place extending different courses which werenot available in the Polish universities. Committees were formed to defend workers against the persecution and prejudiced imprisonment by the communist regime. It was only in the 1970s that the opposition started organizing itself. Again in 1980 unrest spread almost all over Poland against the increase in prices. Workers started demanding high salaries to compensate the escalation inprices, thereby leading to strikes in Gdansk where Lech Walesa, an electrician, became the hero of the movement and later on became the President of post-communist Poland. The economic crisis gave birth to sporadic political cataclysm which led to the formtion of Solidarity Trade Union Movement. Though the communist regime in

International Journal of Value-based Management, 2000

This article discusses political and economic changes in Poland, Central and Eastern Europe emerging since the demise of the ‘closed system’ in 1989. The presentation explores the range of change, the method and the sequence of change. General lessons in economic transition as identified by Polish Finance Minister Lezak Balcerowicz are discussed. The challenges involved in macroeconomic stabilization, radical liberalization,

2009

present author believes that certain processes cannot be understood without providing a broader historical background to them Therefore the aim of this paper is to present what the author believes to be the most important trends in the development of the Polish economy and Polish economics not only in the postwar period but also before World War II Interestingly it is Poland-with its Solidarity movement Round Table talks between SerieS: The hiSTory of economic ThoughT in TranSiTional counTrieS 2

Global Economy Journal, 2000

This article takes a critical view at the process of economic change and transformation in Poland since 1989. Its describes the creation and implementation of these changes, initially referred to as the Balcerowicz Plan, in the decidedly negative context of the system of central planning. The article takes a detailed look at growth, international trade, privatization, and foreign direct investment, as well as outlining some "persistent negatives" such as transition costs, technology and infrastructure lapses, and inflation. It concludes with possible suggestions for Poland's future as a full member of the EU, participating in the euro-perhaps as early as 2008 or 2009.

2018

Over the course of two decades, my colleague Sandra Archibald (University of Washington, Evans School of Public Policy and Governance) and I led an international research team that studied systemic transformation in post-Communist Central and Eastern Europe. Our team produced a series of articles in 2003, 2005, 2008 and 2009, which argued that at least 10 Central and East European countries (which we named the CEEC-10) had made significant progress over the previous 10 to 15 years transforming their totalitarian political systems with centrally planned economies to democracies based on market principles. This transformation was expedited based on each individual country meeting European Union (EU) institutional, economic and social requirements both before and after they joined. Czech Republic, Estonia, Hungary, Latvia, Lithuania, Poland, Slovakia and Slovenia joined the EU in 2004, and Bulgaria and Romania joined in 2007. In 2009 our research team concluded that the CEEC-10 had com...

1989 – Annus Mirabilis. Three decades after: desires, achievements, future, 2020

Scandinavian Journal of Management, 1992

2013

Policy Research Working Papers, 2013

The Policy Research Working Paper Series disseminates the findings of work in progress to encourage the exchange of ideas about development issues. An objective of the series is to get the findings out quickly, even if the presentations are less than fully polished. The papers carry the names of the authors and should be cited accordingly. The findings, interpretations, and conclusions expressed in this paper are entirely those of the authors. They do not necessarily represent the views of the International Bank for Reconstruction and Development/World Bank and its affiliated organizations, or those of the Executive Directors of the World Bank or the governments they represent.