The article deals with a cluster concept, in particular its characteristics and conditions which have to be fulfilled for clusters to develop in Poland. It is pointed out what kind of benefits entrepreneurs taking part in clusters may expect, especially in terms of innovativeness and competitiveness of Polish companies. Moreover, the article enumerates factors which both facilitate and hinder clusters' development in Poland.
Unhindered and sure access to resources in demanded amounts, of required quality, at demanded dates and at reasonable prices, which is the basic element of security of resources, is considered one of the most important factors that build international competitiveness of the European industry. It is simultaneously an element of the implementation of the Europe 2020 Strategy, aimed at providing economic growth and increased employment in the European Union. The article explains the notion of security of resources by presenting a static and a dynamic attitude, as well as measurement techniques. It also shows, among others, for how much time current recorded resources of the main types of raw materials will last, including energy, metallic and chemical materials. The author also discusses factors that hamper access to new deposits, namely formal and legal limitations, economic and ecological problems, social protests and geological limitations. Moreover, he studies prospects of the Polish mining sector with regard to main minerals, the extent to which the economy depends on imports of minerals and consequences thereof, as well as the concept of sustainable mining, juxtaposed with practice.
The government's intentions to construct nuclear power plants in Poland are frequently regarded as a risky move, which will not only fail to solve the problems of the Polish power industry, but can threat the perspectives of other energy sources as well. After the explosion in the Fukushima nuclear plant, fears have also aroused as for the safety of such plants. The author of the article presents the arguments of both supporters and opponents of nuclear energy, and refers to the government's plans and the needs of the economy in the area.
The Jews living in Walbrzych after World War II actively joined in the town's economy. Jewish women were the first to organize public transport in the town, while the men were among the first to set up cooperatives. They took jobs in Walbrzych coal mines, coking plants and steelworks. Some of them took local government jobs. Many helped set up trading enterprises, engaged in crafts, acted in civic and state organizations. Jewish doctors accounted for the majority of local health service staff, and many Jews worked in the courts, with some also working for the security service and the police. The number of Jews working in Walbrzych institutions, cooperatives and factories, and, consequently, the ratio of working Jews to all the Jewish people in the town and to Poles living and working there kept falling. This was due to a succession of tides of emigration as well as attrition, i.e., deaths or the abandonment of Jewish identity by some Jews. Documents from the late 1960s do not point to an important role of Walbrzych's Jews in the town's economy. In post-war Walbrzych, which was a centre of the mining, coking and steel industry, the Jews escaped proletarianization, despite the actions of the Polish Workers' Party/ Polish United Workers' Party. They preferred to stay in their own milieu, most often in cooperatives. Together with the changes pressed by the authorities, such as socialization, nationalization and centralization of all areas of the economy, also the Jewish cooperatives came under the control of the socialist state.
The changes taking place in Poland in 1956 contributed to an intensification of anti-Jewish sentiment, kept in check until then by the authorities. Contrary to official internationalist propaganda, negative stereotypes of Jews were rife among the people, including members of the ruling Polish United Workers' Party [Communist party]. They were accused of cronyism, ‘immunity from prosecution', preoccupation with their own interests, a hostile attitude toward Poles and in general acting to the detriment of ‘the working people'. Anti-Semitic outbursts in Lower Silesia (including the unrest which occurred in Walbrzych on 11 September 1956) were a reflexion of the tensions that occurred during that year in Poland and other East European countries. The ruling party was looking for answers to questions about the causes of the anti-Semitic postures. And it usually found the simplest cause in the observation that the Jews themselves were to blame. Such an instrumental approach to the matter may have prevented further unrest but the problem of the Jewish ethnic minority remained. The party found itself wanting in people capable of critical self-appraisal.
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