WORLD WORLDWIDE EUROPE POLAND - news journal UPDATE - (en) Poland, FA: Poland the Second China? Myths of Polish Economic Growth (ca, de, it, pt, tr) [machine translation]

 Do you remember how, during the Polish People's Republic, under Gierek,

it was claimed that Poland was the 10th largest industrial power in the
world? Maybe you heard it from your parents or grandparents? And I bet
you that this claim seemed suspicious to you. ---- Although the Polish
People's Republic statistics showed how much coal we were mining, steel
smelting, and shipbuilding, it did not mean much to ordinary people. In
order to raise their standard of living, employees simply had to go on
strike every now and then, demanding that their rights be respected.
---- Catching up with the West ---- However, contrary to some opinions,
the Polish People's Republic statistics were not as far from reality as
it might seem. Simply put, the development of the Gierek economy was
exceptionally expensive, and was based on loans. It was then difficult
to repay these loans taken out in dollars. Especially when the US
government raised interest rates. The Polish authorities at the time, in
order to cope with this, not only led to the pauperization of many
social groups, but also to the degradation of the natural environment.
Finally, the Polish People's Republic collapsed economically and
politically. As Marxists put it - the superstructure ceased to
correspond to the economic base. It was replaced.

During the Polish People's Republic, the theory of catching up with the
West was also born among historians. They wanted to subordinate
everything to catch up with countries such as the United States, Western
Germany or Great Britain. The entire modernization of the country was
subordinated to this one idea - "catch up with the West". Whatever that
meant.

After 1989, Lech Walesa also claimed that we had to catch up with
Europe, become a second Japan. In the 1980s, Japan was becoming a leader
in economic development, equal to the United States. Ultimately, the
Land of the Rising Sun did not manage to overtake the USA, but the
slogan: "Poland, a second Japan" sounded ambitious.

China Syndrome
Today, the US competitor in the race for global hegemony is supposed to
be China. Everyone agrees that they have achieved significant economic
successes. However, the Chinese no longer agree to produce only cheap
underwear, plastic toys and electronic gadgets. They are developing
production capacities in industries that were previously reserved for
Western economies, where margins and profitability are much higher.
Everyone has certainly heard about China's successes in the production
of electric cars. Their shipyards have a production capacity over 230
times greater than the US. What's more, the Chinese are sending ships
and satellites into space, developing 5G technologies, and building
high-speed railways.

For several years, we have been hearing the following thesis in Poland:
"Polish economic growth is the second fastest after China" - if we count
from 1990, of course. Poland is therefore developing almost as fast as
China, measured by Gross Domestic Product (GDP)[1].

GDP as an indicator of economic development has been criticized for a
long time. Some said that it does not reflect social well-being in any
way and can grow in conditions of extreme social inequality. Others
added that it is rather abstract in nature. Despite this, let us look at
this issue - does Poland really have the highest GDP growth in the world
after China?

Rankings
First of all, we must ask the questions: what exactly are we comparing,
in what units of measurement and for what period. Let us note at the
outset that propagandists choosing 1990 as the starting point for Poland
make their task a little easier. At that time, Polish GDP plummeted, due
to the so-called shock therapy of Leszek Balcerowicz. In other words:
the later good results are largely the effect of the so-called low base,
a rebound from the total bottom.

Individual countries also have their own specificity, and appropriate
methods must be adopted to make our comparison adequate. For example,
let us compare countries according to the value of the US dollar in
2015. This is a standard method and such a list can be found on the
World Bank website[2]. Let's take the period from the aforementioned
1990 to 2023. China actually ranks high, second in the ranking - after
Equatorial Guinea. However, Poland is only in the seventh ten (66th
place). There are many other countries with much faster growth
calculated in this way.

So let's take the same dollars, but taking into account the so-called
purchasing power parity. It's one thing to have 100 dollars in
Switzerland, another in Poland and something else in Tanzania. But here
too it's very similar: China in second place, Poland still in the
seventh ten (62nd place).

Okay... maybe let's take into account the number of inhabitants in a
given country in the comparison. How fast did GDP grow per capita? Here,
China is second again. Equatorial Guinea is unrivaled in the rate of GDP
growth in each of the three rankings - although it is of course a small
African country with a population of just over 1 million, and
territorially slightly smaller than even Wielkopolska.

Let's go back to our country. If we take into account the number of
inhabitants, Poland has recorded quite a large increase in GDP. Our
country is doing quite well here, it is in 13th place, although behind
countries such as Ireland, India, Vietnam and South Korea. It is quite
high, but it is not right behind China as it is claimed. And there are
countries that are higher in this ranking.

There is no miracle on the Vistula
The myth that we are the second economy after China in terms of the rate
of economic growth achieved over the last 30 years, which was spread by
the PiS government, has been dealt with more than once. You can find
such materials on the Internet[3]. However, this myth is constantly
repeated. Our elites want to believe in an economic miracle on the
Vistula so much.

This is also supposed to justify the very capital-intensive undertakings
of the authorities, such as the purchase of expensive military
equipment, paying a fortune for American fuels, or justify the
possibility of building a nuclear power plant, where the state's
contribution will probably be significant. As a result, people will not
benefit from this potential growth to the extent that - in my opinion -
they should.

We can also look at other data - even more important from a human
perspective. For example: where does Poland rank in terms of earnings?
According to the CEOWORLD magazine, in the report for 2024 (although the
data concerns rather 2023), we are in... 54th place in the world in
terms of gross salary converted to dollars at the current exchange
rate[4]. This is a list that includes 196 countries, i.e. practically
all of them.

Let's take net earnings, after deducting all taxes for 2024. There is
another list on the Internet, where Poland is listed in 40th place, but
it contains data on only 106 countries, so not all of them[5]. It is not
known why, for example, the Czech Republic is not included, but above
all, most African countries and some from America and Asia are missing.

So - let's sum up - in terms of GDP growth per capita, Poland ranks 13th
in the world, but still only 54th in terms of salary. Significant.

Jaroslaw Urbanski

www.rozbrat.org

Footnotes:

[1]
https://www.salon24.pl/newsroom/1301111,polskie-pkb-857-wzrostu-od-1990-roku

[2]
https://data.worldbank.org/indicator/NY.GDP.MKTP.PP.CD?end=2023&start=1960&view=chart

[3]
https://konkret24.tvn24.pl/polityka/pis-o-wzroscie-gospodarczym-jestesmy-druga-gospodarka-po-chinach-to-manipulacja-st7076263

[4]
https://ceoworld.biz/2024/03/31/ranked-countries-with-the-highest-and-lowest-average-salaries-2024/

[5]
https://countrycassette.com/average-monthly-salary-by-country-2023/#google_vignette

https://federacja-anarchistyczna.pl/2025/03/07/polska-drugimi-chinami-mity-polskiego-wzrostu-gospodarczego/
_________________________________________
A - I N F O S  N E W S  S E R V I C E
By, For, and About Anarchists
Send news reports to A-infos-en mailing list
A-infos-en@ainfos.ca