Piatkowski, Marcin2014-02-042014-02-042013-10https://hdl.handle.net/10986/16856The objective of the paper is (i) to help fill the gap in knowledge on the long-term economic history of Poland; (ii) to provide a new perspective to the debate on the economic future of Poland, with a special focus on its historically unprecedented post-transition growth experience; and (iii) to analyze critically long-term growth projections for Poland. The paper argues that (i) Poland has just had probably the best 20 years in its economic history, growing the fastest among all European economies and one of the fastest worldwide; (ii) by 2013, it Poland achieved levels of income, quality of life, and well-being likely never experienced before, including relative to Western Europe, a natural benchmark; and (iii) Poland is well placed to continue converging with the Western European levels of income, permanently moving from the economic periphery of Europe, where it languished for centuries, to the European economic center. The twenty-first century thus promises to become Poland's new Golden Age. The paper calls for further research on the lessons from Poland's successful growth model for other countries in the region and beyond as well as on the long-term implications of the rise of Poland for the future of Europe.en-USCC BY 3.0 IGOAGRICULTURAL GROWTHAGRICULTUREAVERAGE INCOMEAVERAGE LEVELBANK OFFICEBENCHMARKBUSINESS CLIMATECENTRAL BANKCITIZENSCOMPARATIVE ADVANTAGECOMPETITIVE EXCHANGECOMPETITIVE EXCHANGE RATECOMPETITIVENESSCONSUMERSCRAFTSMENCRISESCURRENCYCUSTOMER SERVICEDEBTDEMOGRAPHICDEMOGRAPHIC CHANGESDEMOGRAPHIC PROJECTIONSDEMOGRAPHIC TRENDSDEPOSITSDEVELOPED COUNTRIESDEVELOPING COUNTRIESDEVELOPMENT POLICYDEVELOPMENT REPORTDEVELOPMENT STRATEGYDOMESTIC MARKETDOMESTIC SAVINGSDOWNSIDE RISKSECONOMIC CHANGEECONOMIC COOPERATIONECONOMIC DECLINEECONOMIC DEVELOPMENTECONOMIC GROWTHECONOMIC HISTORIANSECONOMIC HISTORYECONOMIC LITERATUREECONOMIC OUTLOOKECONOMIC PERFORMANCEECONOMIC POLICIESECONOMIC POLICYECONOMIC POWERSECONOMIC PROJECTIONSECONOMIC REFORMSECONOMIC STAGNATIONECONOMIC STATISTICSEMERGING MARKETSEMPLOYMENTEXCHANGE RATEEXPORTSEXPOSUREFINANCIAL SECTORFINANCIAL SECTOR DEVELOPMENTFOREIGN CAPITALFOREIGN TRADEFREE TRADEFUTURE RESEARCHGDPGDP PER CAPITAGLOBAL ECONOMICSGLOBAL ECONOMYGLOBAL POPULATIONGROWTH MODELGROWTH MODELSGROWTH PROJECTIONSGROWTH PROSPECTSGROWTH RATEGROWTH RATESHUMAN CAPITALHUMAN DEVELOPMENTIMMIGRANTIMMIGRANTSIMMIGRATIONINCOMEINCOME INEQUALITYINCOME TAXINCOMESINDUSTRIALIZATIONINFORMATION TECHNOLOGYINNOVATIONINTERNATIONAL TRADEINVESTMENT RATELABOR MARKETSLEVEL OF DEVELOPMENTLIFE EXPECTANCYLIVING CONDITIONSLIVING STANDARDSLONG-RUN GROWTHLONG-TERM GROWTHLOW FERTILITYMARKET ECONOMIESMINORITYMOBILE PHONEMODERNIZATIONMONETARY ECONOMICSMONETARY POLICYNATIONAL BANKNATIONAL DEVELOPMENTNATIONAL INCOMENATURAL ENDOWMENTSOLD REGIMEOPEN MARKETSOUTPUTPOLICY ANALYSISPOLICY DISCUSSIONSPOLICY MAKERSPOLICY RESEARCHPOLICY RESEARCH WORKING PAPERPOLITICAL STABILITYPOPULATION AGEINGPOPULOUS COUNTRIESPORTFOLIOPOWER PARITYPRIVATIZATIONPRODUCTIVITYPROGRESSPUBLIC POLICYPUBLIC SECTORPUBLIC SERVICESPURCHASING POWERPURCHASING POWER PARITYQUALITY OF EDUCATIONQUALITY OF LIFEQUALITY OF SERVICESREAL EXCHANGE RATEREAL GDPRELATIVE INCOMERELATIVE INCOMESREPATRIATIONREPLACEMENT RATERICH COUNTRIESRULE OF LAWSAFETYSAVING RATESAVINGSSECURE PROPERTY RIGHTSSOCIAL DEVELOPMENTSOCIAL INEQUALITYSOCIAL MOBILITYSOCIAL PROGRESSSOCIAL STATUSSTOCK MARKETTECHNOLOGICAL PROGRESSTERTIARY EDUCATIONTHIRD WORLDTRANSITION ECONOMIESUNIVERSITY EDUCATIONURBAN POPULATIONURBANIZATIONWAGE GROWTHWAGESWARWEALTHWORKING CONDITIONSWORKING POPULATIONWORLD ECONOMYYOUNG ADULTSWorld Bank10.1596/1813-9450-6639