AUTHOR:
Adam Rogala-Lewicki
ABSTRACT:
The year 2022 is a good time to summarize Polish battles for a better life, a better country and respect from others1. Certainly, few people remember that in 1989 Poland was one of the poorest countries in Europe at that time. The state – bankrupt in the period of the political transformation – could boast a GDP per capita of approx. 6 000 $. Only Romania was in a worse position. Bulgaria at that time had a GDP per capita of $ 7,330. In Hungary, Slovakia, Lithuania, Latvia and Estonia well over 8,000 $. From the Czechs, with their GDP of 11,000 $, there was a civilization gap. Needless to say, Poland’s GDP was dramatic compared to the average of the European Communities, accounting for only 38% of the average GDP of the European Community. The average Pole lived at a level slightly exceeding 1⁄3 of the average European on the west of the Elbe. In relation to the Dutch or the Swedes, this disproportion was even greater. Compared to the citizen of Luxembourg, the average Pole was at the bottom of the poverty on the old continent.
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