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Poland Grows

MyOwnDrum

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Poland's economy has escaped the recession. They still have their own currency, the złoty, so have not been affected by the downfall of the euro. Consumer debt is rare in Poland, even home mortgages are a newer concept.



Poland Grows « Liveshots

Poland is the only European Union country to have escaped recession in the past two years. Though this post-Soviet economy is not immune to the global financial crisis, and is still fine tuning its transition to a free market, growth is 3% this year and expected to be higher next year. Waldemar Pawlak, the Minister of Economy, says,

“Poland is the only country in the European Union that achieved economic growth, because of the great activity of Polish entrepreneurs and because of the very dynamic attitude of our businessmen.”

Part of Poland’s ability to grow in the current global environment is due to the fact that Poland has not yet adopted the common European currency, the euro.

Head of the National Bank of Poland, Marek Belka, said,

“being outside the euro helped us in the crisis, because we could allow the zloty, our national currency to devalue. Which is helping our exporters and is helping still.”

Transition to the euro has caused some hardship in European countries with their varying degrees of economic health.

Belka continued, “the euro seemed to be a great success in good times, the crisis showed that it is an unfinished project so to say.”

With the zloty being recently devalued, Polish exports are relatively cheap for world markets, but imports are more expensive.

Another factor that has helped Poland avoid pain on the level some of its neighbors are experiencing is the fact that its citizens are not in debt to the extent others are. The whole idea of credit is relatively new to this country. So you will find people explain that they, for example, paid for their homes in cash.
 
I wonder what Poland's policy on taxes is.
 
Part of this is a cultural thing I think. As the article said, the Polish don't go crazy with credits cards like other countries *cough* USA *cough* and so there is less of an individual debt problem.
 
Wow nice hit piece by Fox News.. full of facts that they like and missing all the facts they dont. Typical Fox News biased reporting.

Funny how unemployment, wages, inflation and other economic indicators are not mentioned. Funny how that the fact that Poland will most likely enter the Euro in 2012 or 2013 (although atm they cant meet the criteria by any means). Funny how the article does not comment on how the Poles have achieved this growth..

But they do mention growth!.. the holy grail!.. something that means jack **** if your unemployment is 18% when the growth is 6%+ and your basing your whole growth on the amount of aid and loans coming from other EU partners.. Poland has the highest and fastest growing public debt of any former Iron Curtain country and has had the largest migration of its citizens out of the country of any country in Europe since the war. Also Polish government deficits rival that of the worst offenders in the Eurozone, and it is growing.

But then again, Poland is the new Ireland for the US right wing, a guiding beacon of liberalization and the fair tax system.. so it has to be promoted just as long as you dont mention ALL the facts..
 
I wonder what Poland's policy on taxes is.

Poland Taxes Income Tax and Economy.

Tax Base (PLN) Tax %
0 - 556 0%
557 -85,528 18% of base exceeding PLN 556
85,528 and overr 32% of base exceeding PLN 85,528

22% VAT on most goods. (excludes some groceries, health services, educational expenses, and some others)

17.31% social security

Plus other misc. taxes like real estate.

edit: Google exchange rate says 85,528 PLN is ~$26,000 US, but im not sure what the purchasing power difference is.
 
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