growth

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.

In the year of the COVID-19 crisis, Czechs must endure one more month of work for the state. After June 24, 2020, they will start earning money for themselves. Until then, for 175 days, they only work for the state. This is the least free year since 2000.

Over the past 10 years, the Bulgarian economy has changed dramatically. The manufacturing sector is gradually shifting towards higher value added production. The number of employed in traditional industries, for instance the clothing industry and furniture manufacturing, has dropped significantly.

This month, Slovak economy unpleasantly surprised the Slovak government, when the newly released economic numbers showed a relatively significant drop in the growth rate of the economy compared with the earlier expectations.

Year 2016 in Ukraine became a year of starting on the economic recovery path. Real GDP growth in 2016 is estimated at 1.4%. It was supported by higher domestic demand. In particular, real private final consumption increased due to higher disposable income primarily attributed to increase in wage income.

While it might be too harsh to say that Hungary was near bankrupcy in 2010, or when it was put in the junk category in 2014 we could argue that it was only an overreaction of the market. Still, it would be wrong to say that ’Hungary is doing better’, especially on the regional level.