Europe's Growth Champion

This book is a tour de force on socio-economic changes in Poland a country that initiated the historic process of transition and became its most successful economy. Piatkowski persuasively explains how this happened and what is the likely future for Poland and Europe. * Grzegorz W. Kolodko, Kozminski University, former Deputy Premier and Minister of Finance of Poland * Most countries in the world are trapped in poverty or middle-income status. However, a country's destiny can change. Piatkowski analyses Poland's recent success of ascending from a relatively poor to a high-income country in a generations time. The book provides both inspiration and useful lessons for countries still struggling to change the fate of their nations. * Justin Yifu Lin, Peking University, China, former Chief Economist of the World Bank * An ambitious and successful effort at explaining the evolution of Poland from feudalism to communism and to today's success story. Full of insights, with deep lessons about development in general. A pleasure to read. * Olivier Blanchard, Peterson Institute, US, former Chief Economist of the International Monetary Fund * No country did better than Poland after the fall of communism. This book dissects not just the specific policies that made this successful transition possible, but also its deeper roots in culture, institutions, and ideas providing some surprising answers along the way. Piatkowski has written a deeply hopeful book that shows the way forward for Poland and other similarly situated economies. * Dani Rodrik, Harvard University, US * Poland's economic success over the last three decades is nothing short of remarkable. This insightful book shows how Poland owes its success to its ability to build broadly inclusive economic institutions, and traces the roots of this institutional transformation to the countrys history, to its political transition driven by its middle class, to the anchor that the European Union provided, and to good political leadership. A must read for anybody who wants to understand the process of economic reform, especially today when we are witnessing the rise of an authoritarian government in Poland threatening to reverse some of these achievements. * Daron Acemoglu, Massachusetts Institute of Technology, US *