growth

Economists have been fascinated by the question of the origins of prosperity since the very beginning of their discipline. Today, we know much more about it than Adam Smith did 250 years ago when he wrote The Wealth of Nations. In the mid-20th century, economist Robert Solow developed a model explaining economic growth through capital accumulation and population growth.

Prime Minister Donald Tusk’s and Minister Andrzej Domański’s speech at the Warsaw Stock Exchange (WSE) has generated significant attention in the media. Using bold historical comparisons, the Prime Minister presented a bright vision of Poland surpassing Western countries in living standards. The key to achieving this goal, he argued, lies in investment.

Advocates of state intervention and regulation believe that these mechanisms can improve the environment by suppressing the free market. Over time, they have become an increasing challenge for defenders of capitalism and the free market economy. The solution to global warming, air pollution, and so on is therefore said to be less market and more state planning.

The Polish economy depends on deregulation not becoming a passing trend or an episode of the election campaign. Deregulation has the potential to be a major driver of growth. If there were a contest for the economic buzzword of the year in Poland, “deregulation” would be a frontrunner. Thanks to Prime Minister Donald Tusk’s meeting with entrepreneurs in February 2025, the issue briefly rose to the forefront of Polish politics.

Economic policy in Europe is visibly shifting towards prioritizing competitiveness over green objectives. Over the past year, former Italian Prime Minister Enrico Letta published an ambitious report in support of the EU single market, followed by Mario Draghi\'s widely quoted report on the future of European competitiveness.

On June 4 and 18, 1989, partially free elections for the Sejm and fully free elections for the reconstituted Senate were held in Poland. As a result of these elections, a democratic political system was established, and decisive economic reforms were initiated between 1989 and 1990, which included stabilization and free-market changes. Poland was the first socialist country to begin departing from the system imposed by force, which was flawed.

In November, the Institute for Market Economics’ (IME) introduced its White Paper, Unlocking Growth: The Path Forward After the Elections. But what are the goals we can realistically achieve in the medium term? Below, we present eight fundamental goals with a four-year horizon that are fully attainable and would significantly improve the country’s development potential and quality of life.

The EU Commission’s (EC) spring forecast, demonstrating the expected real growth for 2022 and 2023 was published exactly a day before the preliminary data for growth in the first quarter of 2022.

After thirty years of independence, today Estonia has a very high government integrity, full respect and guarantee of property rights, a fair tax burden and government spending, high trade investment, and considerable financial freedom. Not bad for a country that has been under State Socialism for almost half a century.

Addressing and diminishing barriers to the single market in the EU is a much welcome initiative. The initiatives to decrease bureaucracy, to step up efforts to comply with EU law, to evaluate the effects of new regulations on SMEs in impact assessments, and mutual recognition are important steps in promoting growth, free trade, and consumer rights.