RoW: Links for 1st Jan, 2020

Poland, five links to understand this country better.

1. “The best way to maximize food production is to allow your farmers to go on owning their own land, encourage them to work together in genuinely free cooperatives, and when you have earned their good will, subject them to central state directives in return for guaranteed prices.”
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   A rather long write-up about Poland, and the original Polish miracle.
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2. A Wikipedia article about the Communist years in Poland.
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3. “What could not be foreseen in the autumn of 1989 was that Poland would become the star performer of all the economies that emerged from the wreckage of the Soviet empire. Poland’s return to growth and fiscal discipline were powerful factors in the European Union agreeing to admit eight former communist countries in 2004.”
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   And then the second Polish miracle…
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4. “In reality, Poland’s boom is the result of positive external shocks. And if the ruling party — which is all but certain to win the country’s parliamentary election on October 13 — doesn’t push through serious reforms, the next downturn could seriously damage the country’s future.”
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   Current worries, of which there are a few.
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5. An interview with Jefferey Sachs in 2015, about his role in Poland in 1989 (and onwards)
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   “I’ve been on many sides of many issues because they’re different in different contexts. For three years I said constantly that the key to reform is stabilization, liberalization, and privatization. That was a kind of mantra for three years in Eastern Europe, which I stand by. Then I went to Africa a few years later and I heard the IMF say: stabilization, liberalization, and privatization. And I said, “Are you kidding? They have AIDS and malaria, why don’t you talk about those things?”“But Professor Sachs, we’re just quoting you!”And I honestly did a double take. I said, “But in Warsaw, they had streets, electricity. They didn’t have malaria or an AIDS epidemic. They had fresh water, sanitation. Here it’s different. It’s about poverty, development, disease, hunger. They’re different issues.””

Author: Ashish

Blogger. Occasional teacher. Aspiring writer. Legendary procrastinator. View all posts by Ashish