WIIW The Vienna Institute for International Economic Studies - Wiener Institut für Internationale Wirtschaftsvergleiche

Kazimierz Laski

• Curriculum Vitae
• List of Publications
• List of Projects

Former Director of Research
(1921 - 2015)

email: office@wiiw.ac.at
telephone: (+43-1) 533 66 10

Kazimierz Łaski was Director of Research at wiiw from 1991 to 1996 and Senior Research Associate until his death, 20th October 2015. He was acknowledged internationally as one of the most important representatives of Post-Keynesian economics.

Prof. Łaski was born in Warsaw in 1921. He studied economics and graduated in 1954. He was a student and close collaborator of Michal Kałecki, the British-Polish economist. Łaski had to leave Poland in November 1968, driven out by the anti-Semitic campaign of that era, and lived in Austria ever since. He was Professor of Economics at the ‘Johannes Kepler Universität’ in Linz from 1971 to 1991, where he played an important role in the development of the economics curriculum. From 1991 to 1996 he was Director of Research at wiiw and thereafter Senior Research Associate. He participated actively in the work of the institute until his death.

After 1990 Prof. Łaski worked intensively on the economics of transformation of the former planned economies. His critical assessment of the economic policies in these countries that were, at the time, very much dominated by the thinking of the Washington Consensus, proved to be right. It was appreciated only at a much later date.

During his tenure at wiiw he was able to develop the institute into a research centre on the economies of Central and Eastern Europe with an international standing.

Austria, Vienna

External Publications

• 'What kind of socio-economic order do we need in Europe?' (with Leon Podkaminer), Studia Ekonomiczne, Vol. LXXV, No. 4, 2012, pp. 449-461
• 'The basic paradigms of the EU economic policy-making need to be changed' (with Leon Podkaminer), Cambridge Journal of Economics, Vol. 36, No. 1, 2012, pp. 253-271
• 'Common monetary policy with uncommon wage policies: Centrifugal forces tearing the euro area apart' (with Leon Podkaminer), Intervention: European Journal of Economics and Economic Policy, Vol. 8, No. 1, May 2011
• 'CZYNNIKI WZROSTU PKB W POLSCE I W CZECHACH W 2009 R.' (with Jerzy Osiatynski and Jolanta Zieba), Ekonomista, No. 6, 2010
• 'Making sense of the aggregate demand-supply model' (with Amit Bhaduri and M. Riese), Investigacion Economica, Vol 63, No. 243, 2002
• 'Making sense of the aggregate demand-supply model' (with Amit Bhaduri and M. Riese), Investigacion Economica, Vol. 63, No. 243, 2002
• 'Tres Caminhos para Elevado Desemprego', Dinamica Economica do Capitalismo Contemporaneo, 2001, pp. 209-241
• 'Tres Caminhos para Elevado Desemprego', Dinamica Economica do Capitalismo Contemporaneo, 2001, pp. 209-241
• 'Keine vernunftmäßige Erklärung: Am Beispiel der Wirtschaftswissenschaften', Mitbestimmung, No. 2, 2001, pp. 3-7
• 'Tres Formas Para ... Alta Desempleo', Momento Economico, No. 107, 2000
• 'Thrift and Unemployment in Germany', Konjunkturpolitik. Applied Economics Quarterly, Vol. 46, No. 1-2, 2000, pp. 1-32
• 'Effective Demand versus Profit Maximization in Aggregate Demand/Supply Analysis: A Dynamic Perspective' (with Amit Bhaduri and M. Riese), Banca Nazionale del Lavoro Quarterly Review, No. 210, September 1999, pp. 281-93
• 'Book Review: Carson, R. L.: Comparative Economic Systems', Journal of Economics - Zeitschrift für Nationalökonomie, Vol. 55, No. 2, 1992, pp. 242-244
• 'Postkomunistines ekonomikos kelias j rinka', Aliansas. Zurnalas verslo zmonems, No. 1, 1992
• 'Pojeti prechodu v socjalistickych ekonomikach', Politicka ekonomie, No. 7-8, 1991, pp. 620-634
• 'Plans and Disequilibria in Centrally Planned Economies. Empirical Investigations for Poland' (with W. Charemza and Leon Podkaminer), Journal of Economics - Zeitschrift für Nationalökonomie, Vol. 52, No. 2, 1990, pp. 199-204
• 'The stabilization plan for Poland', Wirtschaftspolitische Blätter, No. 5, 1990, pp. 444-458
• 'O niebezpieczenstwach zwiazanych z planem stabilizacji gospodarki narodowej', Gospodarka narodowa, No. 2/3, 1990, pp. 5-9
• 'Capital Market and the Problem of Full Employment' (with Wlodzimierz Brus), European Economic Review, Vol. 33, No. 2-3, 1989, pp. 439-447

• Mity i rzeczywistość w polityce gospodarczej i w nauczaniu ekonomii, INE PAN i Fundacja Innowacja, Warszawa, 2009
• Od Marksa do rynku (with Wlodzimierz Brus), Wydawnictwo naukowe PWN, Warszawa, 1992
• Von Marx zum Markt. Der Sozialismus auf der Suche nach einem neuen Wirtschaftssystem (with Wlodzimierz Brus), Metropolis-Verlag, Marburg, 1990
• From Marx to the Market: Socialism in Search for an Economic System (with Wlodzimierz Brus), Oxford University Press, Oxford, 1989
• From Marx to the Market: Socialism in Search for an Economic System (with Wlodzimierz Brus), Oxford University Press, Oxford, 1989
• The Rate of Growth and the Rate of Interest in a Socialist Economy, Springer-Verlag, Wien, New York, 1972
• Akumulacja i spozycie w procesie uprzemyslowienia Polski Ludowej, Ksiika i Wiedza, Warsawa, 1956
• Zarys teorii reprodukcji socjalistycznej , Ksiqzka i Wiedza, Warsawa, 1965
• Nastin teorie socialisticke reprodukce, Nakladelstvi Svoboda, Praha, 1967

• 'Net Private Savings in Relation to the Financial Balance of the Government' (with Leon Podkaminer), in: Óscar Dejuán, Eladio Febrero-Paños and Jorge Uxo Gonzalez (eds), Post-Keynesian Views of the Crisis and its Remedies, Chapter 9, Routledge Critical Studies in Finance and Stability, Routledge, 2013
• 'Net Private Savings in Relation to the Government's Financial Balance' (with Leon Podkaminer), Economic Crisis and Political Economy, Chapter 7, Palgrave Studies in History of Economic Thought Series, Palgrave Macmillan, 2013
• 'Mnożnik wydatków państwowych i szacunki jego wielkości dla Polski' (with Jerzy Osiatynski and Jolanta Zieba), Materialy i Studia, No. 246, Warszawa, 2010
• 'CZYNNIKI WZROSTU PKB W POLSCE I W CZECHACH W 2009 R.' (with Jerzy Osiatynski and Jolanta Zieba), Ekonomista, No. 6, 2010
• 'Lessons to be learnt from earlier accessions', in: Michael Landesmann (eds), Shaping the New Europe: Economic Policy Challenges of European Union Enlargement, Palgrave Macmillan, Basingstoke and New York, 2004
• 'Czego nas ucza wczesniejsze akcesje?' (with Roman Römisch), Wokól polityki gospodarczej Unii Europejskiej, Stowarzyszenie Studiów i Inicjatyw Spolecznych, Warszawa, 2004
• 'Lessons to be learnt from earlier accessions', in: Michael Landesmann and Dariusz Rosati (eds), Shaping the New Europe: Economic Policy Challenges of European Union Enlargement, Palgrave Macmillan, Basingstoke and New York, 2004
• 'Czego nas ucza wczesniejsze akcesje?' (with Roman Römisch), Wokól polityki gospodarczej Unii Europejskiej, Stowarzyszenie Studiów i Inicjatyw Spolecznych, Warszawa, 2004
• 'Lessons to be Learnt from Earlier Accessions' (with Roman Römisch), in: Michael Landesmann and Dariusz Rosati (eds), Shaping the New Europe, Palgrave Macmillan, Houndmills, Basingstoke, Hampshire, 2004
• 'W jaki sposob prywatne inwestycje okreslaja prywatne oszczednosci i co z tego wynika dla rozwoju gospodarki?', in: Grzegorz W. Kolodko (eds), Rozwoj polskiej gospodarki - perspektywy i uwarunkowania, Wydawnictwo Wyzszej Szkoly Przedsiebiorczosci i Zarzadzania im. Leona Kozminskiego, Warszawa, 2002
• 'Le socialisme garde-t-il une pertinence quelconque pour les societes oist communistes?' (with Wlodzimierz Brus), in: Bernard Chavance, Eric Magnin, Ramine Motamed-Nejad and Jacques Sapir (eds), Capitalisme et le socialisme en perspective. Evolution et transformation des systemes economiques, Editions la Decouverte, Paris, 1999
• 'Macroeconomic Problems of Trade Liberalisation and EU Eastern Enlargement', in: Hubert Gabrisch and Rüdiger Pohl (eds), EU Enlargement and its Macroeconomic Effects in Eastern Europe, MacMillan, 1999, pp. 26-61
• 'Lessons to be drawn from main mistakes in the transition strategy' (with Amit Bhaduri), in: Salvatore Zecchini (eds), Lessons from the Economic Transition. Central and Eastern Europe in the 1990s, OECD, Kluwer Academic Publishers, 1997
• 'An Alternative Economic Policy for Central and Eastern Europe', in: Mark S. Knell (eds), Economics of Transition. Structural Adjustments and Growth Prospects in Eastern Europe, Edward Elgar, Cheltenham, UK and Brookfield, Vermont, US, 1996, pp. 87-115
• 'The Investment Multiplier at a Variable Savings Ratio', in: Egon Matzner and Ewald Nowotny (eds), Was ist relevante Ökonomie heute?, Festschrift für Kurt W. Rotschild, Metropolis, Marburg, 1995
• 'Wohlstand durch Nachfrage' (with Amit Bhaduri), Die großen Nationalökonomen. Sammlung von Aufsätzen, Die Zeit, Hamburg, 1994, pp. 163-169
• 'Fiscal Policy and Effective Demand During Transformation', in: Gabor Hunya (eds), .), Economic Transformation in East-Central Europe and in the Newly Independent States, Westview Press, Boulder, 1993, pp. 113-133
• 'Transformation in Eastern Europe and the Role of the State', Eine Rolle für den Staat? A new role for the state?, Schriftenreihe Nr. 3, Bundesministerium für Finanzen, 1993, pp. 21-32
• 'Od stabilizacji do wzrostu gospodarczego krajow o gospodarce okresu przejsciowego', Polska na rozdrozu, Fundacja Polska Praca, Warszawa, 1993
• 'Konzepte und Erfahrungen zur Restrukturierung ehemaliger Planwirtschaften', in: Heinrich Pfusterschmid-Hardenstein (eds), Entscheidung für Europa. Bewußtsein und Realität, Europäisches Forum Alpbach 1992, Iberaverlag, Vienna, 1993, pp. 277-288
• 'Der aktuelle Stand der Diskussion über die Transformationsprobleme', Vom "obsoleten" zum "adäquaten" marktwirtschaftlichen Denken, BEIGEWUM, Metropolis-Verlag, Marburg, 1992, pp. 211-224
• 'From a Command Toward a Market Economy: The Polish Experience', in: Mark S. Knell and Christine Rider (eds), Socialist Economies in Transition: Appraisals of the Market Mechanism, Edward Elgar, Aldershot, 1992, pp. 117-139
• 'Comment on Leipold's 'The neoliberal concept of economic order'', in: Christopher T. Saunders (eds), Economics and Politics of Transition, Macmillan Press Ltd., London, 1992, pp. 94-96
• 'Concepts of transition in socialist economies', in: Christopher T. Saunders (eds), Economics and Politics of Transition, Macmillan Press Ltd., London, 1992, pp. 63-72
• 'Transition from Command to Market Economies in Central and Eastern Europe: First Experiences and Questions', in: Sandor Richter (eds), The Transition from Command to Market Economies in East-Central Europe, Westview Special Studies in International Economics, Westview Press, Boulder, 1992
• 'Supplementary Paper to the Paper by H. K. Schneider, Tempo und Schrittfolge des Transformationsprozesses', in: Bernhard Gahlen, Helmut Hesse and Hans Jürgen Ramser (eds), Von der Plan- zur Marktwirtschaft. Eine Zwischenbilanz, J. C. B. Mohr (Paul Siebeck), Tübingen, 1992, pp. 23-25
• 'Transition from Command to Market Economies in Central and Eastern Europe: First Experiences and Questions', in: Wolfgang Blaas and John Foster (eds), Mixed Economies in Europe. An Evolutionary Perspective on their Experience, Transition and Regulation, Edward Elgar, Aldershot, 1992, pp. 105-133
• 'Discussion Contribution', in: Zdzislaw Sadowski (eds), Spoleczenstwo posttotalitarne. Kierunki przemian, Polskie Towarzystwo Wspolpracy z Klubem Rzymskim, Warszawa, 1991
• 'Transition by Shock in Poland' (with Hubert Gabrisch), in: Peter Havlik (eds), Dismantling the Command Economy in Eastern Europe, Westview Special Studies in International Economics, Westview Press, Boulder, 1991, pp. 225-234
• 'Transition from Command to Market Economies' (with Hubert Gabrisch), in: Peter Havlik (eds), Dismantling the Command Economy in Eastern Europe, Westview Special Studies in International Economics, Westview Press, Boulder, 1991, pp. 11-29
• 'An Economic Comparison of Poland and Spain', in: Henryk Flakierski and Thomas T. Sekine (eds), Socialist Dilemmas. East and West, M. E. Sharpe, Inc., Armonk, New York and London, 1990
• 'Note on Some Necessary Changes to Improve Trade of the USSR', in: O.T. Bogomolov (eds), Market Forces in Planned Economies, International Economic Association, Macmillan Press Ltd. , 1990, pp. 217-220
• 'Product Market and Capital Market in the Light of the Experience of the Hungarian New Economic Mechanism' (with Wlodzimierz Brus), in: O.T. Bogomolov (eds), Market Forces in Planned Economies, International Economic Association, Macmillan Press Ltd. , 1990, pp. 16-31
• 'The role and functioning of the enterprise' (with J. Slater), Economic Reforms in the European Centrally Planned Economies, United Nations Economic Commission for Europe Economic Studies, United Nations, New York, 1989, pp. 154-157
• 'Polens Wirtschaftskrise als politisch-ökonomisches Strukturproblem', in: Hans-Henning Hahn and Michael G. Müller (eds), Gesellschaft und Staat in Polen. Historische Aspekte der polnischen Krise, Verlag Arno Spitz, Berlin, 1989, pp. 64-94

• 'Keine vernunftmäßige Erklärung: Am Beispiel der Wirtschaftswissenschaften', Mitbestimmung, No. 2, 2001, pp. 3-7
• 'Oszczedzanie nie zawsze jest cnota', Magazyn Finansowy, 13 March 2000, pp. 7-9
• 'Zahady, pudink a pragmatizmus', Ekonom, No. 12, 1994, pp. 20-21
• 'Inflalcja - deficyt budzetowy - Keynesizm', Zycie gospodarcze, No. 17, 1994, pp. 40-42
• 'Znachenie Michala Kaleckoho segodnja' (with Amit Bhaduri), Obszczestwo i Ekonomika, No. 3, 1993, pp. 122-127
• 'Aktualnosc mysli Michala Kaleckiego' (with Amit Bhaduri), Zycie gospodarcze, No. 19 , 1993, pp. 14-15
• 'Makroökonomische Stabilisierungsprobleme in den führenden Reformstaaten', Kurswechsel, No. 3, 1993, pp. 19-38
• 'Wohlstand durch Nachfrage' (with Amit Bhaduri), Die Zeit, 14 May 1993
• 'Der aktuelle Stand der Diskussion über die Transformationsprobleme', Europäische Rundschau, No. 4, 1992
• 'Die aktuelle Wirtschaftslage der ehemaligen RGW-Länder', Europäische Rundschau, No. 3, 1991
• 'Porownanie gospodarki Polski i Hiszpanii' (with Jolanta Zieba), Zycie gospodarcze, 1989
• 'Jeszcze o Polsce i Hiszpanii' (with Jolanta Zieba), Zycie gospodarcze, 1989

• 'Fiscal multipliers and factors of growth in Poland and the Czech Republic in 2009' (with Jerzy Osiatynski and Jolanta Zieba), National Bank of Poland Working Paper, No. 117, 2012
• 'Mnożnik wydatków państwowych i szacunki jego wielkości dla Polski' (with Jerzy Osiatynski and Jolanta Zieba), Materialy i Studia, No. 246, Warszawa, 2010
• 'Alternative Strategies for Overcoming the Current Output Decline of Economies in Transition' (with F. Levcik), Oesterreichische Nationalbank Working Papers, No. 9, 12 October 1992

wiiw Publications

• 'Special Section I: Should the European Union strive to achieve permanently balanced public finances?' (with Leon Podkaminer), Fasting or Feasting? Europe - Old and New - at the Crossroads, wiiw Current Analyses and Forecasts, No. 10, Vienna, July 2012, pp. 32-39
• 'Special topic: Long-term growth prospects in Central and Eastern Europe hinge on changes in the basic paradigms of EU economic policy-making' (with Leon Podkaminer), Will Exports Prevail over Austerity?, wiiw Current Analyses and Forecasts, No. 6, Vienna, July 2010, pp. 1-22

• 'Net private savings in relation to the government’s financial balance: some basic principles of macroeconomics disregarded by the European Union’s economic policy-makers' (with Leon Podkaminer), Monthly Report No. 11/2015 - Special Issue in Memoriam Kazimierz Laski, wiiw Monthly Report, No. 11, Vienna, November 2015, pp. 12-18
• 'Kalecki’s place in my career as an economist', Monthly Report No. 11/2015 - Special Issue in Memoriam Kazimierz Laski, wiiw Monthly Report, No. 11, Vienna, November 2015, pp. 6-11
• 'The cold civil war in Poland' (with Leon Podkaminer), Monthly Report No. 5/2012, wiiw Monthly Report, No. 5, Vienna, May 2012, pp. 8-10
• 'Net private savings in relation to the government’s financial balance' (with Leon Podkaminer), Monthly Report No. 4/2012, wiiw Monthly Report, No. 4, Vienna, April 2012, pp. 10-13
• 'What kind of socio-economic order do we need in Europe?' (with Leon Podkaminer), Monthly Report No. 3/2012, wiiw Monthly Report, No. 3, Vienna, March 2012, pp. 13-14
• 'The government expenditure multiplier and its estimation for Poland', Monthly Report No. 7/2009, wiiw Monthly Report, No. 7, Vienna, July 2009, pp. 11-13
• 'Market economy needs to run budgetary deficits', Monthly Report No. 6/2008, wiiw Monthly Report, No. 6, Vienna, June 2008, pp. 13-17
• 'The twin deficits: myth and real problems' (with Roman Römisch), Monthly Report No. 5/2007, wiiw Monthly Report, No. 5, Vienna, May 2007, pp. 5-8
• 'wiiw Managing Director retires', Monthly Report No. 5/2006, wiiw Monthly Report, No. 5, Vienna, May 2006, pp. 1-2
• 'Unit labour costs as a measure of countries¿ competitiveness' (with Roman Römisch), Monthly Report No. 2/2005, wiiw Monthly Report, No. 2, Vienna, February 2005, pp. 8-11
• 'Do profit tax cuts stimulate private investment?' (with Roman Römisch), Monthly Report No. 8-9/2004, wiiw Monthly Report, No. 8-9, Vienna, September 2004, pp. 16-20
• 'Thirty years of The Vienna Institute for International Economic Studies', Monthly Report 12/2003, wiiw Monthly Report, No. 12, Vienna, December 2003, pp. 1-3
• 'EU membership and income level convergence: the experience of the Cohesion Countries' (with Roman Römisch), Monthly Report 04/2003, wiiw Monthly Report, No. 4, Vienna, April 2003, pp. 7-14
• 'Monthly Report special issue Spring Seminar No. S1/2003' (with Patrizia Baur, Peter Havlik, Zdenek Lukas, Leon Podkaminer, Josef Pöschl, Sandor Richter, Roman Römisch and Hermine Vidovic), wiiw Monthly Report, No. S1, Vienna, March 2003

• 'From Accession to Cohesion: Ireland, Greece, Portugal and Spain and Lessons for the Next Accession' (with Roman Römisch), wiiw Research Report, No. 298, Vienna, July 2003
• 'External Constraints on Sustainable Growth in Transition Countries', wiiw Research Report, No. 281, Vienna, October 2001

• 'Kalecki’s Profit Equation after 80 Years' (with Herbert Walther), wiiw Working Paper, No. 100, Vienna, April 2013
• 'The Government Expenditure Multiplier and its Estimates for Poland in 2006-2009' (with Jerzy Osiatynski and Jolanta Zieba), wiiw Working Paper, No. 63, Vienna, March 2010
• 'Do Increased Private Saving Rates Spur Economic Growth?', wiiw Working Paper, No. 45, Vienna, September 2007
• 'Macroeconomics versus 'Common Sense'', wiiw Working Paper, No. 33, Vienna, December 2004
• 'Growth and Savings in USA and Japan' (with Roman Römisch), wiiw Working Paper, No. 16, Vienna, July 2001
• 'Three Ways to ... High Unemployment', wiiw Working Paper, No. 12, Vienna, January 2000
• 'Effective Demand versus Profit Maximization in Aggregate Demand/Supply Analysis from a Dynamic Perspective' (with Amit Bhaduri and M. Riese), wiiw Working Paper, No. 9, Vienna, November 1998
• 'Making Sense of the Aggregate Demand-Supply Model' (with Amit Bhaduri and M. Riese), wiiw Working Paper, No. 5, Vienna, March 1995
• 'Fallacies in Aggregate Demand/Supply Analyses' (with Amit Bhaduri and M. Riese), wiiw Working Paper, No. 4, Vienna, July 1994
• 'Transition from the Command to the Market System: what went wrong and what to do now?', wiiw Working Paper, No. 1, Vienna, March 1993