Poland Economic Transition
Poland is characterized by a great history of rulers and conquers in the early stages of the country’s history. In the last century, Poland confirmed herself as an independent state, no more under foreign control and went through a major change in its economic stage adopting a policy of drastic change. The Yalta conference held in 1945 established the Polish Provisional Government of National Unity and called for fair elections. However, the communist party, under influence of the powerful Soviet Russia, controlled the elections, thus creating a regime that followed the communist ideals: a centrally planned economy based on the principle of equality.
A centrally planned economy allocates the resources in a much different way than a market driven economy. In short terms, a planned economy alleviates the use of the private sector and allows the government to take full control of the factors of production. Allocating the resources of the country does not depend on the pricing system any longer, but is organized by the government, depending on what the government thought the people needed most (in Soviet Russia, a confirmed communist nation, bread coasted less than wheat since the government decided that bread is more essential and that everybody should be able to afford it).
The ideals and programs proposed by the Poland communist regime were much similar to the ones in Soviet Russia. Fully Soviet-style centralized planning begun in 1950 with the Six-Year Plan. The plan focused on rapid development of heavy industry and (eventually futile) collectivization of agriculture. The prior privately owned land was confiscated by the government to be reissued to the poorer peasants. Further attempts to reallocate the land to provide equal owning met great disagreements. The regime embarked on the collective of agriculture policy and Poland remained the only Soviet bloc country where individual peasants dominated agriculture. (
Resentment grew and strikes were
A centrally planned economy allocates the resources in a much different way than a market driven economy. In short terms, a planned economy alleviates the use of the private sector and allows the government to take full control of the factors of production. Allocating the resources of the country does not depend on the pricing system any longer, but is organized by the government, depending on what the government thought the people needed most (in Soviet Russia, a confirmed communist nation, bread coasted less than wheat since the government decided that bread is more essential and that everybody should be able to afford it).
The ideals and programs proposed by the Poland communist regime were much similar to the ones in Soviet Russia. Fully Soviet-style centralized planning begun in 1950 with the Six-Year Plan. The plan focused on rapid development of heavy industry and (eventually futile) collectivization of agriculture. The prior privately owned land was confiscated by the government to be reissued to the poorer peasants. Further attempts to reallocate the land to provide equal owning met great disagreements. The regime embarked on the collective of agriculture policy and Poland remained the only Soviet bloc country where individual peasants dominated agriculture. (
Resentment grew and strikes were
Cited: Barr, Nicholas. "Development and Transition: Poverty during the Early Transition." Development and Transition: Home. Jan. 2005. Web. 27 Nov. 2010. <http://www.developmentandtransition.net/index.cfm?module=ActiveWeb&page=WebPage&DocumentID=571>. Central Intelligence Agency. "CIA - The World Factbook." Welcome to the CIA Web Site — Central Intelligence Agency. 9 Nov. 2010. Web. 27 Nov. 2010. <https://www.cia.gov/library/publications/the-world-factbook/geos/pl.html>. Combs, Susan. "Energy Report - Municipal Waste Combustion." Susan Combs - Texas Comptroller of Public Accounts. Web. 27 Nov. 2010. <http://www.window.state.tx.us/specialrpt/energy/renewable/municipal.php>. Faiola, Sergio. "Centrally Planned Economies." Telephone interview. 25 Nov. 2010. "History of Poland (1945–1989)." Wikipedia, the Free Encyclopedia. 12 Nov. 2010. Web. 27 Nov. 2010. <http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/History_of_Poland_(1945–1989)>.