Balcerowicz’s Polish Big Bang

Leszek Balcerowicz, former Deputy Prime Minister of Poland

The advancement of liberty and free markets deserves to be celebrated. And on May 21 it will be when the Cato Institute presents Leszek Balcerowicz, former Deputy Prime Minister of Poland, with the 2014 Milton Friedman Prize for advancing liberty. Balcerowizc was a student of the “Five P’s”: prior preparation prevents poor performance, explains Cato Senior Fellow Steve H. Hanke. “Balcerowicz was ready when he first took office in 1989. Indeed, he pulled his comprehensive economic game plan to liberalize and transform the Polish economy out of his desk drawer and proceeded to implement what became known as the ‘Big Bang’. As they say, the rest is history,” writes Hanke who compares Balcerowicz’s big bang to communist Ukraine below.

Over the last decade, we’ve been watching Poland from near and afar—visiting family and speaking with business contacts—gathering on the ground intelligence. We have seen the continuation of the transformation set in motion by Leszek Balcerowicz. New highways, privitazations, deregulation, government deregulation, and rapid development have made Poland one of Europe’s fastest growing economies. Poland was the only European nation to avoid the Great Recession, with cumulative growth near 16% through the 2008-2011 period. Many hands have shaped Poland’s development since it cast off communism, but Leszek Balcerowicz was the prime architect of Poland’s successful transition into capitalism and democracy.

Timothy Jones contributed to this piece.

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E.J. Smith is the Founder of YourSurvivalGuy.com, Managing Director at Richard C. Young & Co., Ltd., a Managing Editor of Richardcyoung.com, and Editor-in-Chief of Youngresearch.com. E.J. graduated from Babson College in Wellesley, Massachusetts, with a B.S. in finance and investments. In 1995, E.J. began his investment career at Fidelity Investments in Boston before joining Richard C. Young & Co., Ltd. in 1998. E.J. has trained at Sig Sauer Academy in Epping, NH, where he completed course-work in Practical and Defensive Handgun, Conceal Carry Pistol, Shotguns, Precision Scope Rifle and Kidnapping Prevention. E.J. plays a Yamaha Recording Custom drum set with Zilldjian cymbals. His first drum set was a 5-piece Slingerland with Zilldjians. He grew-up worshiping Neil Peart of the band Rush, and loves the song Tom Sawyer—the name of his family’s boat, a Grady-White Canyon 306. He grew up in Mattapoisett, MA, an idyllic small town on the water near Cape Cod. He spends time in Newport, RI and Bartlett, NH—both as far away from Wall Street as one could mentally get. The Newport office is on a quiet, tree lined street not far from the harbor and the log cabin in Bartlett, NH, the “Live Free or Die” state, sits on the edge of the White Mountain National Forest. He enjoys spending time in Key West and Paris. Please get in touch with E.J. at ejsmith@youngresearch.com. Sign up here to receive all the best content from Richardcyoung.com each week.