Quarter of a Century of Post-socialist Transformation and What Next?
05 June 2014 5:00 pm CEST
Grzegorz W. Kolodko, Kozminski University
Venue
wiiw, Rahlgasse 3, 1060 Vienna, lecture hall (entrance from the ground floor)
Description
The progress of post-socialist systemic transformation should be evaluated through the prism of its influence on a country’s development abilities. Even in Poland, the country considered to be the most successful in its transition endeavour, gross domestic product has increased only to a limited degree during the past twenty-five years of comprehensive systemic shift, on a par with the growth of the world economy. In assessing the transformation progress, not only the improvements in competitiveness and growth in terms of quantity must be taken into account, but social and cultural aspects matter as well. Better policy co-ordination of systemic change and socio-economic development would have allowed for GDP to grow much faster. This opportunity has been missed due to the implementation of suboptimal, if not outright wrong, economic policies based on mistaken economic theories and the lack of ability of the ruling elites to override the conflicts of interests.
Professor Grzegorz W. Kolodko – intellectual and politician, a key architect of Polish economic reforms. Member of the European Academy of Arts, Sciences and Humanities. Author of research papers and numerous books published in 26 languages, including the international bestseller Truth, Errors, and Lies: Politics and Economics in a Volatile World, nominated for the William Harlington Award ‘for an outstanding book that demonstrates how scholarship can be used in the struggle for a better world’. During his terms as Deputy Prime Minister and Minister of Finance in 1994-1997 and in 2002-2003, he played an important role in the country’s joining the OECD and its integration with the European Union. Director of TIGER – Transformation, Integration and Globalization Economic Research at Kozminski University in Warsaw. Marathon runner, and globetrotter who has explored over 160 countries.