FOR

Is a ghost airport a symbol of economic nonsense or financial mismanagement? These terms have been used to describe Radom-Sadków Airport located in Central Poland. In the last few years, the investment of the city local authorities has become a jeering synonym of wastefulness and megalomania of Polish public sector.

We should open our minds to the notion of individual responsibility and entrepreneurship. We have to take responsibility and the costs of our mistakes. The recipe for growth is no technocratic engineering. Growth goes through entrepreneurship, mistakes, reactions to mistakes and risk-taking. These elements are critical.

Many people, both in the West and in the former socialist countries, display an attitude which I call—somewhat pointedly—“a mentality of Soviet official”. It is a generalized belief: “whatever problem there exists, only the state can solve it.” The state is perceived as a deity, i.e. an omniscient and benevolent being with unlimited resources.