| Leszek Balcerowicz |
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| balcerowicz, leszek | |
| finance ministers of poland | |
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| polish economists | |
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Leszek Balcerowicz (pronounce: ) (born January 19, 1947) is an Economist from Poland and Chairman of the National Bank Of Poland . He is famous for leading the Polish economic transformation program ( Shock Therapy ) in the 1990s. BIOGRAPHY In 1970 he graduated with distinction from Foreign Trade faculty in Central School of Planning and Statistics in Warsaw (now Warsaw School Of Economics ). Balcerowicz received his Doctorate from the Warsaw School of Economics in 1975 and an MBA from St. John's University in New York , in 1974. He was a member of Polish Solidarity (Polish Solidarność), and have to left communist part. From September 1989 to August 1991 and between October 31, 1997 and June 8, 2000 he was a Deputy Prime Minister and Finance Minister of Poland. Between 1995 and 2000 he was the chairman of Freedom Union ''(Unia Wolności)'', then a Centrist Political Party . On December 22, 2000 he became the Chairman of the National Bank of Poland. He was also a Columnist for popular Polish magazine, '' Wprost ''. On November 11, 2005, President of Poland, Aleksander Kwaśniewski , awarded L. Balcerowicz with the country's highest decoration, the Order Of The White Eagle , for his contribution to the transformation of the system. THE BALCEROWICZ'S PLAN The Balcerowicz's Plan was a series of reforms, which sought to end hyperinflation and balance the national budget. The prices of most consumer goods were freed and caps for annual increases established in state-sector employees' wages. Zloty was made convertible within Poland's borders. This translated into a substantial increase of prices and forcing the until now state-owned companies to become competitive. A real shock to the Polish economy. The reforms were very controversial and made out of Balcerowicz a perfect target for political propaganda. Increasing banking interest rates of credits had led to bankruptcy in almost all of the state-owned agricultural and farming properties, and brought destitution in many rural areas of the country. Also many branches of state-owned heavy industry suffered a tremendous blow, leaving many people permanently or long-time unemployed, forcing many to desperate measures such as fatal Suicide attempts, Homicide s, Emigration , increased crime ratio. The magnitude of this can be appreciated if we consider that the campaign slogan of his opponents was: "Balcerowicz has to go" (''Balcerowicz musi odejść''). On the other hand it is agreed by most economists that without this shock therapy, sacrificing short-term gains for long-term growth, modern Poland would be a much poorer country. Today Poland is one of the wealthiest post-Soviet economies, while countries that did not implement shock therapy - like Romania, Bulgaria, Ukraine or Belarus - are much poorer. Critics of Balcerowicz's Plan point at or the Czech Republic , have proven to be better alternatives of transition reform. HONORARY DOCTORATES
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