Reflections on Oblicza polskiego etatyzmu gospodarczego by Stanisław Czaja and Bogusław Fiedor

Abstract

This article presents reflections on the book Oblicza polskiego etatyzmu gospodarczego [Faces of Polish Economic Statism] by Stanisław Czaja and Bogusław Fiedor (Wrocław 2021). The book details the evolution of statism in Poland from the time the country regained its independence to the present. The authors aptly distinguish the statism imposed by the current historical or economic situation from the statism stimulated by factors that can properly be described as ideological or political. Statism in the latter case might be no more than the increasing share of the state in the economy – largely as the result of market regulation that has no economic justification. A statist policy imposed by force of circumstance was implemented after World War I. The book contends that the widespread acceptance of statism in its various forms was associated with the significant influence that the German historical school and Kathedersozialismus [socialism ex cathedra] had on Polish economists, and this is certainly plausible. It can be concluded that by revisiting the term “statism” [French: étatisme], which was widely used before World War II, the authors are euphemising the recent changes in managing Polish economy (similar changes have been taking place in other CEE countries).

Keywords

• poland
• statism
• state interventionism
• regulation
• 20th century
• economic thought