J. Barkley Rosser, Jr. wrote:
>Let us consider Poland in particular, and what is involved in
>"Polish shock therapy." First of all, everyone should be aware,
>if they are not, that Poland has had by far the best macro
>performance of any of the European transition economies. It
>is probably the only one that is clearly and definitively ahead
>of where it was in 1989 in real per capita GDP terms. Second,
>although "shock therapy" has been associated in many minds
>with total sudden change, including privatization, etc., this was
>not what happened in Poland. Indeed, Poland itself has been
>slow to privatize, much to the annoyance of various international
>agencies. Also, it has maintained very generous pensions,
>although some other parts of its social safety net have not
>been as well maintained. I remember hearing Jeffrey Sachs
>whining in a major speech at the ASSA several years ago
>about "what is it the Poles want anyway," complaining about
>how they just would not follow his advice and cut their pensions
>"enough." So, the Poles have themselves to a large degree
>managed what many say is impossible.
Poland also got a 50% debt writeoff, didn't it? Does that count for something?
Doug
