Marketization and Privatization: the Polish Case

Abstract

The fall of Tadeusz Mazowiecki's government - nearly as spectacular as its emergence - marks a break in the first stage of change of the economic system in Poland. The country which pioneered radical reforms now learns a pioneering lesson; its experience may be the lot of any country undertaking a profound change of its economic system. In my view, the reason for the government's defeat is a recession of unprecedented dimension, caused by the economic stabilization programme (popularly known as the Balcerowicz Plan). Two contradictory value systems confronted each other: that of the population at large, and that of the "political class". The same discord surfaces in the present discussion about privatization.