Overview

What makes countries rich? What makes countries poor? Europe's Growth Champion: Insights from the Economic Rise of Poland seeks to answer these questions, and many more, through a study of one of the biggest, and least heard about, economic success stories.Over the last twenty-five years Poland has transitioned from a perennially backward, poor, and peripheral country to unexpectedly join the ranks of the world's high income countries. Europe's Growth Champion is about the lessons learned from Poland's remarkable experience, the conditions that keep countries poor, and the challenges that countries need to face in order to grow. It defines a new growth model that Poland and its Eastern European peers need to adopt in order to continue to grow and catch up with their Western counterparts.Europe's Growth Champion emphasizes the importance of the fundamental sources of growthDS institutions, culture, ideas, and leadersDS in economic development. It argues that a shift from an extractive society, where the few rule for the benefit of the few, to an inclusive society, where many rule for the benefit of many, was the key to Poland's success. It asserts that a newly emerged inclusive society will support further convergence of Poland and the rest of Central and Eastern Europe with the West, and help to sustain the region's Golden Age. It also acknowledges the future challenges that Poland faces, and that moving to the core of the European economy will require further reforms and changes in Poland's developmental character.

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9780198789345

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This book is a tour de force on socio-economic changes in Poland a country that initiated the historic process of transition and became its most successful economy. Piatkowski persuasively explains how this happened and what is the likely future for Poland and Europe. * Grzegorz W. Kolodko, Kozminski University, former Deputy Premier and Minister of Finance of Poland * Most countries in the world are trapped in poverty or middle-income status. However, a country's destiny can change. Piatkowski analyses Poland's recent success of ascending from a relatively poor to a high-income country in a generations time. The book provides both inspiration and useful lessons for countries still struggling to change the fate of their nations. * Justin Yifu Lin, Peking University, China, former Chief Economist of the World Bank * An ambitious and successful effort at explaining the evolution of Poland from feudalism to communism and to today's success story. Full of insights, with deep lessons about development in general. A pleasure to read. * Olivier Blanchard, Peterson Institute, US, former Chief Economist of the International Monetary Fund * No country did better than Poland after the fall of communism. This book dissects not just the specific policies that made this successful transition possible, but also its deeper roots in culture, institutions, and ideas providing some surprising answers along the way. Piatkowski has written a deeply hopeful book that shows the way forward for Poland and other similarly situated economies. * Dani Rodrik, Harvard University, US * Poland's economic success over the last three decades is nothing short of remarkable. This insightful book shows how Poland owes its success to its ability to build broadly inclusive economic institutions, and traces the roots of this institutional transformation to the countrys history, to its political transition driven by its middle class, to the anchor that the European Union provided, and to good political leadership. A must read for anybody who wants to understand the process of economic reform, especially today when we are witnessing the rise of an authoritarian government in Poland threatening to reverse some of these achievements. * Daron Acemoglu, Massachusetts Institute of Technology, US *

What did Poland do to become the most successful European economy in the past thirty years? This brilliant and original book answers the question and rekindles the debate on whether successful economic development is driven by good institutions, good policies, lucky geography...or all three. * Branko Milanovic, Graduate Center City University of New York, author of Global inequality * No country did better than Poland after the fall of communism. This book dissects not just the specific policies that made this successful transition possible, but also its deeper roots in culture, institutions, and ideas providing some surprising answers along the way. Piatkowski has written a deeply hopeful book that shows the way forward for Poland and other similarly situated economies. * Dani Rodrik, Harvard University * Most countries in the world are trapped in poverty or middle-income status. However, a country's destiny can change. Piatkowski analyzes Polands recent success of ascending from a relatively poor to a high-income country in a generations time. The book provides both inspiration and useful lessons for countries still struggling to change the fate of their nations. * Justin Yifu Lin Peking University, former Chief Economist of the World Bank * Based on comprehensive comparative research and rich personal experience, Piatkowski wrote a unique book on the post-communist transformation to a market-based, democratic and civic society. This is a tour de force on socio-economic changes in Poland a country that almost 30 years ago initiated the historic process of transition and was the most successful economy to cope with its immense challenges. Piatkowski persuasively explains how this happened and what is the likely future not only for Poland, but also for the whole post-communist region and Europe. * Grzegorz W. Kolodko, Kozminski University, a key architect of Polish economic reforms * This highly readable book provides a comprehensive and novel explanation of Poland's rise to the ranks of high-income economies over the course of a single generation. The book will be essential reading for economists and economic policy-makers, including those in Poland, who face the daunting task of creating and implementing a new economic model for the future. * Dale Jorgenson, Harvard University * An ambitious and successful effort at explaining the evolution of Poland from feudalism to communism and to today' success story. Full of insights, with deep lessons about development in general. A pleasure to read. * Olivier Blanchard, President-elect of the American Economic Association, former Chief Economist of the IMF * Poland's economic success over the last three decades is nothing short of remarkable. This insightful book shows how Poland owes its success to its ability to build broadly inclusive economic institutions, and traces the roots of this institutional transformation to the country's history, to its political transition driven by its middle class, to the anchor that the European Union provided, and to good political leadership. A must read for anybody who wants to understand the process of economic reform, especially today when we are witnessing the rise of an authoritarian government in Poland threatening to reverse some of these achievements. * Daron Acemoglu. MIT *

Author Information

Prof. Marcin Piatkowski a Senior Economist at the World Bank and Associate Professor of Economics at Kozminski University in Warsaw. Previously, he was Chief Economist of PKO BP, the largest bank in Poland, Economist in the European Department of the International Monetary Fund (IMF), and Advisor to the IMF's Executive Director. He also served as Advisor to Poland's Deputy Premier and Minister of Finance. He holds a Ph.D. and habilitation in Economics from Kozminski University and an M.A. in Finance and Banking summa cum laude from the Warsaw School of Economics. He was a visiting scholar at Harvard University, London Business School and the OECD Development Centre.

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