From the ashes of World War II to the triumph of Solidarity and the emergence of a new economic and political system, this book examines Poland's March to Market and the obstacles the approach to the new millennium may pose.
From the ashes of World War II to the impending obstacles of the new millennium, this multidisciplinary study examines Poland's recent economic and political development. It examines the creation and collapse of the system of central planning, the pre-Solidarity period, the rise of KOR and the Solidarity Movement, and the Polish August of 1980— leading to the imposition of Martial Law in December 1981. This comprehensive and integrated view of nearly a half-century of change is presented in a clear, non-technical manner, encompassing economic, financial, legal, and political issues.
Introduction
Economics and Politics: 1945-1980
The Rise of Solidarity
The State of Poland's Economy during and after Martial Law
The March to the Market Economy: 1989-1993
Privatization and Polish Private Sector Development: 1989-1993
Polish Mass Privatization: Proposals, Plans, and Progress
Economics and Politics after Shock Therapy
"Quo Vadis, Polond?": The Polish Economy and Solidarity in Perspective
Epilogue
Chronology of Significance Economic and Political Dates and Events
Selected Economic Statistics
The Paris and London Clubs
Selected Bibliography
Index
Reviews
Political and social shifts are well portrayed and offer enlightening information. Recommended for lower-division undergraduate through faculty collections.—Choice
Endorsements
The team of Richard J. Hunter and Leo V. Ryan has produced a superb, readable book that will be required reading for anyone trying to understand the unprecedented transformation taking place in Poland since the fall of communism in 1989. Based on the latest available research on both sides of the Atlantic, this synthetic study traces and analyzes the painful process by which Polish society organically rejects communism and accepts capitalism and pluralist democracy. The authors masterfully examine the complex political and economic factors, the ups and downs, in this transition. At the same time they pay appropriate attention to the leading actors (Walesa, Mazowiecki, Pope John Paul II, Balcerowicz, Kuron, etc.) in this historical drama. The book does not minimize the social costs involved in this process for which there is no economic model, but it points to the benefits derived by 1995 that have prompted some observers to describe Poland as the Tiger of Eastern Europe.—Thaddeus V. Gromada, Executive Director^LThe Polish Institute of Arts and Sciences of America, Inc.
For all of us who have lived through that period ... the correlation of the facts and figures permits us to look at the evolution of the society in Poland, from the economic and the political point of view, and arranges the sequence of these events in order, not only chronologically, but of importance....[H]aving worked in the industry in Poland after the war, from the very early days in the 1950s all the way to the present, I can well correlate what is written in the book to what I have observed with my own eyes and listened to in discussion.—Michael G. Sendzimir^LChairman, President-CEO,^LT. Sendzimir, Inc.
Hunter and Ryan focus in detailed fashion on the efforts to create a new social consciousness in Poland with economic change at its heart. They are clear and precise about the successes of the pioneers of this undertaking but also perceptive in pointing to the reasons for the emergence of social frustration in the process of social reform.—John T. Pawlikowski, O.S.M., Ph.D.^LProfessor of Social Ethics^LCo-Chair, National Polish American-Jewish American Council
