Stanisław Grabski, Professor of Economics at the Faculty of Law at the Jan Kazimierz University in Lwów, rejected the idea that the great economic crisis (1929–1933) would lead to the collapse of capitalism. He advocated the development of the economy in stages, recognizing changes in societal needs and the emergence of a new technique for a boost to development, granted by the State and governed by the primacy of the economy. He distinguished three groups of socio-economic regimes, using as a crite- rion for the award a way for economic cooperation of the people. In the third group, including capitalism, the units have carried out activities on the basis of equality and freedom, subject to the rules of law. Capitalism in its two phases of development and was heading to the third, which was formed after the great economic crisis. Despite the passage of years it has kept its basic values and principles and still motivates in- dividuals to be active. Therefore, Grabski found the system of capitalism dynamic and flexible, able to survive the economic crisis of 1929, and further develop. He argued that after the crisis there will be a new order, in which the economy will function according to the following models: the democratic-liberal, corporative-fascist, the economy domi- nated by large corporations and with a very limited role for the State of the economy based on trade-offs of monopolies and trade unions and statist model. Grabski did not rule out a communist economy. Among the most liberal democratic models with a si- zeable small business sector, France, whose economy effectively defended itself against crisis. Although the global economy was already dominated by monopolies, Grabski advocated the use of this model in Poland.
Economic life of man was the first item of interest to philosophers and theologians, who envisage it from the point of view of ethics. From the 18th century, when the economics gained the status of science, and the book of Adam Smith An Inquiry into the Nature and Causes of the Wealth of Nations (1776) originated classic economics, there has been a dynamic growth of economy, caused mainly by socioeconomic changes. There have been numerous theories, making up the wealth of economic thought. Classical economics at the end of the 19th century developed evolutionarily into neoclassical economics that defined a paradigm of full rationality of economic operators and the market as the best mechanism to balance the economy, in addition to the state economic system. In the 20th century, following the great economic crisis, economy was replaced by Keynesian thought, which advocated state activity in order to stabilize the economy. Until the 1980s governments used Keynesian recommendations successfully, but when that failed, they returned to neoclassical economics. A new classical economics, monetarism, economy of reasonable expectations, have provided the dependencies on the economy using models based on the assumption of rationality of the market participants. After the outbreak of the crisis in 2008 there appeared criticism of these currents concerning their alleged departure from reality and from the point of view of the doctrine they were to be blamed for the crisis. Beyond that are the directions of alternative economics (evolutionary economics, behavioral economics, imperfect knowledge and complexity), which reject the neoclassical paradigm and state that human knowledge is limited, and people steer away from pure market behavior, so there is no rationality in economic activities. Fluctuations are the feature of economies, so the market does not automatically restore the balance, and therefore the state should be incorporated into the economy. The phenomena occuring in the world, e.g. globalization, crisis, multiculturalism, changing organization of production — require new research and the formulation of new theories. So we should expect further development of economics.
The current Institute of Economic Sciences has its beginnings in the Department of Political Economics, created in April 1946, whose head was Prof. Wincenty Styś (1903–1960). In 1972 the Department was renamed the Institute of Political Economics, and in 1990, the Institute of EconomicSciences with four departments (International Economic Relations, Economic Thought, Economic Theory and Economic Policy). In 1999, following the establishment of a degree in economics, the Division of Statistics and Operations Research was transferred to the Institute from the Institute of Administrative Sciences and the Division of Financial Management was established. Today, the Institute of Economic Sciences consists of six departments and the Research and Documentation Center of the European Union, in which in 1996 the Jean Monnet Department in European integration was created for Prof. J. Kundera. The Institute was headed in turn by Prof. Tomasz Afeltowicz (1968–1991), Prof. Leon Olszewski (1991–2002), Prof. Elżbieta Kundera (2002–2005), Prof. Jarosław Kundera (2005–2012), and currently Prof. Urszula Kalina-Prasznic. The Institute employed 30 people — 9 professors and 21 assistant professors. The area of interest of workers within the Institute of Economic Sciences was and remains wide, and their achievements during the period of 1945–1990 independent of the prevailing ideology of Marxism-Leninism. Prof. W. Styś’s opposition against imposing science policy requirements was victimized. His colleagues continued the legacy of Professor, faithful to the principle of the independence of scientific thought. They created outstanding works from the theory of economics, economic thought and economic history. W. Styś published two major monographs: Drogi postępu gospodarczego wsi. Studium szczegółowe na przykładzie zbiorowości próbnej wsi Husowa [Economic Progress in the Countryside. A Detailed Study Based on the Example of the Trial Population of the Husów Village] (1947) and Współzależność rozwoju rodziny chłopskiej i jej gospodarstwa [The Interdependence of the Development of a Peasant Family and Its Farm] (1959). Other monographs include: T. Afeltowicz’s Studia nad historią banków śląskich [Studies on the History of Silesian Banks] (1963), W. Trznadel’s Huta szkła kryształowego „Julia” w Szklarskiej Porębie w latach 1841–1863 [The Crystal Glass Mill “Julia” in Szklarska Poręba in the Years 1841–1863], (1966), W. Samecki’s Centralny Okręg Przemysłowy 1936–1939 [The Central Industrial Region 1936–1939], (1998). In the theory of economics the following books were written: W. Samecki, Ryzyko i niepewność w działalności przedsiębiorstwa przemysłowego [Risks and Uncertainties in the Activities of an Industrial Enterprise] (1967) and Gospodarowanie za pomocą planowania [Management through Planning] (1972), when it comes to the theory of growth, R. Sorgenstein published a book entitled Okres eksploatacji zasobów górniczo-energetycznych w węglu brunatnym [Period of Exploitation of Mining-Energetic Resources in Lignite Coal] (1965) and W. Trznadel Przestrzenne dysproporcje gospodarczo-społeczne we Włoszech XIX i XX wieku i drogi ich przezwyciężania [Spatial Economic and Social Disparities in Italy of the 19th and 20th centuries and Ways of Overcoming Them] (1988). The work of J. Chodorowski Definicje w systemach ekonomicznych [Definitions in Economic Systems] (1974) concerned methodology, and his habilitation Niemiecka doktryna Gospodarki Wielkiego Obszaru (Grossraumwirtschaft) 1800–1945 [German Economic Doctrine of the Great Area (Grossraumwirtschaft) 1800–1945] (1972) and a monograph, Adam Smith (1723–1790) (1980, 2002), in which he demonstrated that Smith could not be regarded as the founder of the science of economics, concerned the history of economic thought. In 1982 L. Olszewski published a book Francuska doktryna dominacji gospodarczej [French Economic Domination Doctrine]. It was important to assess the economics in Poland in the period of real socialism, which was done by W. Samecki, O przedmiocie i metodzie ekonomii politycznej w Polsce [The Subject Matter and the Method of Political Economics in Poland] (1986). In the period of 1990–2015 by expanding the existing lines of research, the study was extended to new areas — international economy, globalisation, European integration, alternative economics, theory and competition policy, capital market and its instruments and statistical inference. An important aspect of the scientific activities of the Institute of Economics are scientific conferences. The Institute always stood out in terms of international activity and the participation of workers in international programmes in partnership with the universities of the European Union and Eastern Europe, as well as in carrying out the studies for foreign students. The Institute’s staff are also involved in the work of many organizations and academic communities.
John Stuart Mill (1806-1873) liberal and utilitarianist, recognized utility (happiness) for the basic criterion of ethical behavior. Responsibility of the unit was increased prosperity, which required additional conditions: the liberal democratic state, guaranteeing the freedom and equality of opportunity and for the submission by the intellectual needs of material desires. J.S. Mill' thesis timeliness preserved till today.
The history of economic thought was taught at the Faculty of Law since 1945, and the research in this field was begun by Prof. Wincenty Styś. In 1990 the Department of Economic Thought in the Institute of Economic Sciences was established. Since 1998 it is headed by Prof. Elżbieta Kundera. The area of research includes socioeconomic thought in Germany of the 19th century, doctrines of welfare state, Polish economic thought of the interwar period and the directions of alternative economics. The most important achievements are the monographs: E. Kundera, Ferdinand Lassalle (1825–1864), Doktryna „socjalizmu z katedry” 1872–1918 [The Doctrine of “Socialism from the pulpit” (1872–1918)], E. Kowalczyk, Poglądy ekonomiczne i polityczne Wincentego Stysia [Economic and Political Views of Vincent Styś] (2013), and Słownik historii myśli ekonomicznej [Dictionary of the History of Economic Thought] (ed. E. Kundera) (2004, 2014).
Alvin Toffler (ur. 1928 r.) badał ewolucję gospodarki kapitalistycznej, stwierdzając występowanie w niej etapów, które nazwał falami. Twierdził, że po fali rolniczej i przemysłowej, w końcu XX w. gospodarka przeszła do trzeciej fali. W tej fali gospodarka jest nadsymboliczna, gdyż korzysta z nowych zasobów – wiedzy i informacji. Są one zdematerializowane, przez co i inne elementy gospodarki przyjmują ich cechy. Nowe zasoby zreorganizowały gospodarkę. Przeważają w niej praca umysłowa i usługi oraz obrót bezgotówkowy. Wartość towaru tworzą wiedza dawna i nowa. Dostępność wiedzy sprawiła, że konsumenci zostali włączeni do procesu produkcji. Źródłem własności są praca umysłowa, wiedza i kreatywność przedsiębiorców. W gospodarce nadsymbolicznej ze względu na dużą elastyczność zyskują na znaczeniu małe przedsiębiorstwa.
EN
Alvin Toffler (born 1928) studied the evolution of the capitalist economy, noting the presence in it of stages, which he called waves. He claimed that after a wave of agriculture and industrial, at the end of the 20th century, the economy has gone to the third wave. In this wave of economy is over symbolic, since it uses the new resources − knowledge and information. They are dematerialized, and other elements of the economy take their features. New resources reorganized economy. Prevail in her intellectual work and services and your turnover. Knowledge of long time and new creates value. The availability of knowledge, that consumers have been included in the production process. Source properties are the intellectual work, knowledge and creativity of entrepreneurs. In over symbolic economy due to the high flexibility of the gain on the importance of small enterprises.
Social market economy (soziale Marktwirtschaft) is an economic system that combines economic freedom and private property with the principle of social justice. It has to be the system of efficient and fair, and thus competition. The task of the Member State is to introduce competition and control its observance. The concepts of social market economy were developed by German economists, proponents of liberalism and the ideas of ordo. These concepts contain different rules of economic policy: economic humanism (Röpke), competitive economic order (Eucken) and prosperity for all (Erhard). The economists played apart in the “economic miracle” of Germany in the 1950s and 60s.
JavaScript is turned off in your web browser. Turn it on to take full advantage of this site, then refresh the page.