Transformation in Poland and Liberal Orientations

• Authors: Kowalik T.
• Languages of publication: PL

Abstracts

EN

The successes of economic transformation in Poland were accompanied by a series of negative phenomena which emerged with greater intensity than in any other country in Central Europe and in the European Union. In terms of comparative economics, the most important features of the present socio-economic order in Poland are the following: 1) massive and permanent unemployment; 2) slightly more than half of working age population is employed; 3) widespread and growing poverty; 4) high number of homeless people and undernourished or even hungry children; 5) large and growing disparities of wages and incomes bringing a danger of oligarchic democracy; 6) very poor working conditions in the private sector; 7) annihilation of trade unions; 8) the crisis in the welfare state is more acute then in the other Central European states; 9) the privatization practices contradict distributive justice requirements. This socio-economic order is by and large a result of conservative, neo-liberal policy, which in Poland is wrongly treated as identical with liberalism as such. This paper brings an attempt to vindicate other currents of liberalism, particularly those open towards full employment, social security, democratic ownership, equality and distributive justice.

Keywords

EN

NEO-LIBERAL POLICIES; SOCIO-ECONOMIC ORDER; TRANSFORMATION FAILURES (POLAND)

Discipline

• ECONOMICS: ECONOMICS

• Publisher: Komitet Nauk Ekonomicznych PAN, Polskie Towarzystwo Ekonomiczne
• Journal: Ekonomista
• Year: 2007
• Issue: 5
• Pages: 781-797
• Document type: ARTICLE

Contributors

author

Kowalik T.

• T. Kowalik, Instytut Nauk Ekonomicznych PAN, ul. Nowy Swiat 72, 00-330 Warszawa, Poland

Identifiers

CEJSH db identifier

08PLAAAA03747512