Thursday, April 26, 2012

Poland richer than Portugal!

The new Golden Age of Poland and New Europe is coming fast...

According to the new data from the IMF's World Economic Outlook (Spring 2012), GDP per capita PPP in Poland will exceed that of Portugal by 2015 (given the downside risks to growth in Portugal, probably even sooner), which will likely be the first time in Poland's more than 1000 year old history when Poles will become richer than the Portuguese.

By 2017, Poles will be almost as rich as Greeks (although the IMF is probably too optimistic on Greece here..) and Saudi Arabs (except that Poland has no oil... with shale gas, if the predicted bonanza proves to be real, we will be richer than Saudi sheiks even sooner).

I was right then back in 2009, at the bottom of the crisis, when I published a paper on "The Coming Golden Age of New Europe". I now hope to finish the book on it soon too. Stay tuned!

Friday, April 6, 2012

My quote in the Economist's article on Poland

This week's edition of the Economist features an insightful article on "Poland's progress. Tusk takes two".

I am quoted as saying that "growth this year could exceed 2.5%, reckons Marcin Piatkowski, a World Bank economist in Warsaw. He says Poland’s potential for productivity gains could make it the “Asian tiger of Europe”.

My earlier quotes are here: