Poland is now among the world’s 20 largest economies. How did it happen?
https://www.nbcnews.com/business/economy/poland-now-worlds-20-largest-economies-happen-rcna263694?cid=sm_npd_nn_tw_ma&taid=69b878b55ffdf00001efde59&utm_campaign=trueanthem&utm_medium=social&utm_source=twitter
Posted by nolesfan2011
27 Comments
But we have like almost every European country right now, very pro Russian community which wants to drag us down.
Largest economies means a lot of things. In this case it means that the cogs are turning efficiently, business is going, people are working but that doesn’t mean they are owners of the fruits of their work. Which means they’re not as strong/rich as some countries with lesser economies.
How?
The EU, that’s how
Well they joined the EU and started educating the very large work force. It’s not that hard people.
The power of EU.
The end of the USSR and the Warsaw Pact gave them potential, the EU gave them the capital, the mobility, and the free market.
Did receiving 250 billion euros from the EU help?
Good to sea Eastern Europe recovering after 45 years of communist stagnation that they didn’t ask for
EU membership in 2004 did a lot of the work. Poland pulled in structural funds, built out infrastructure fast, and had a large educated workforce at significantly lower wages than Western Europe, which made it a genuinely attractive place for investment and manufacturing. They also came through 2008 almost unscathed, which people tend to forget. Sometimes the countries that grow quietly are the ones actually doing things right.
EU capital investments in things like public transport, rail and motorways were huge economic drivers. Krakow has a world class tram line. Warsaw has a brand new metro. They’ve some of the finest highways built in Europe. I believe until 2004 they only had one (!) highway connecting 2 major cities. Since 2004 they’ve built nearly 6000km of top class highway connecting most major cities.
They’ve done unsexy things like modernizing their electricity system, train systems and investing in IT.
Also millions of Poles emigrated and returned with skills they learnt in other European countries which had the effect of massive free training. And the remittences further boosted the economy and allowed for productive investments. Poles accumulated savings abroad and many returned to settle down, buy houses or make businesses with their savings. It also had the effect of driving up wages and removing unemployable people from the jobs market and they would return later with more skills.
They adopted European standards in business and in their government budgets and had access to some of the cheapest interest rates loans in history at the time. The Polish government invested wisely what they were given by the EU.
It isn’t like some EU functionary in Brussels automatically knows what to do with funds. It takes civil servants and local acumen to apply for the grant and then they are supposed to use the money as they see fit. The government has to apply for it with a plan. It isn’t like the EU is all knowing for this stuff. It takes honesty on the part of the borrower.
Romania and Hungary pilfered some of the funds due to local corruption and in the end doing that harms them more than the EU. Productive investment is mutually beneficial. Building fake playground or a road to nowhere only benefits the grifter.
Also being beside Germany and its huge industrial plants and having a native Soviet industrial base (that while decayed) could rapidly be spun out into another branch of the German economy and take on subcontracted work and a vast supply chain. The single market suddenly made the flow of goods very easy. No piddling import or customs rules, or useless forms to fill out. Polish trucking in particular is a force to be reckoned with in logistics.
Another benefit included the legacy of Communist education system which was top notch and particularly equitable towards women. The quality of education is very high especially in mathematics and engineering. The young population who were hungry for success and dynamic gave another strong basis. All the seeds for success were there.
Last point is being politically insulated from Russia. No chance of oligarchs or its malign influence gaining hold on Polish politics.
In reality the “miracle” was strikingly similar to Irelands where it was an alignment with the European average standard of living after years of penury. It’s pretty much the gold standard of post Communist adoption of capitalism.
I don’t know where these myths come from about Poland (no immigration and success only based on EU funds).
Poland was actually developing faster, before it joined the EU (of course from lower base), thanks to quite successful free market reforms (that actually started, even when communists were still in power). It allowed the country tu use EU founds and access to EU markets to fullest extent, without oligarchy taking over most of them. (You can read about Wilczek and Balcerowicz).
There are a lot of immigrants in Poland (just go and check it out), mostly from Ukraine and other countries around. This is also a fact that actually contributed largely towards the success ( please check the reports how immigration contributes to GDP in Poland, for example this article describes NBP report on immigration https://www.obserwatorfinansowy.pl/forma/dispatches/nbp-ukraincy-w-2021-2023-odpow-za-08-pp-wzrostu-pkb-polski/ ).
Cuz they’re hard workers and intelligent.
I heard it’s because Poland took a very strict stance on corruption. Is that true?
Trade with a rich neighbour.
i work with Polish almost on a daily basis and am very impressed on how peofessional and polite they are
had a meeting with them a few weeks ago and the things i heard about working in poland seems very attractive (working hours, work/life balance and etc)
Polish people are very business oriented. When I traveled through Poland I noticed that most of properties have some gig going – mini shop, food place, car repair, money exchange. Great country.
P.s. I am from Lithuania.
It’s not EU free money (you know its all our people of EU’s tax on our labor and productivity, right? ).
It’s resources spent wisely and probably less corruption than others. Also, a high margin for improvement in infrastucture.
Don’t diminish the polish effort and achievement.
One thing is to get money from EU and one thing is not to steal them.
Most likely time to prosper and not being eradicated from the worldmap the last 80 years.
Very much enviable to see Poland’s progress over the years
They care less about russian oil and we’re busy integrating their economy in EU. Unlike one their neighbor
Congratulations Poland. Great country with hard working and friendly people.
All because of their tasty Pierogi.
Massive foreign investment. Currently 20bn/year. Top investors are Netherlands (19%), Germany (17%), Luxemburg (13%), France (7%) and Spain (5%). Mainly nearshoring.
Poland was the 18th by nominal GDP ín 1970…
EU
1. EU and it’s market
2. Big an young population
3. Work ethic (polish people are among the hardest working mofos I’ve ever seen)