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Poland is now among the 20 largest economies

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Re: Poland is now among the 20 largest economies

#311

Earlier quoted context omitted.

Think of it as an investment. The rest of the EU also benefits from their hard work, and economic prosperity. Other countries in the EU have also enjoyed economic growth and support over the years. I'm old enough to remember internal borders with passport checks in Europe, before the wall fell and Poland was still on the other side of that. Nice to see them moving on from that. Thanks to the EU free movement of peopl…

> Think of it as an investment. The rest of the EU also benefits from their hard work, and economic prosperity. Other countries in the EU have also enjoyed economic growth and support over the years. It is for as long, as the EU exists in its current form. The rise of anti-EU parties in both Poland and Germany makes it a risky investment.

Thankfully most people have learned from the absolute shambles of Brexit and either of these countries leaving is extremely unlikely.

Re: Poland is now among the 20 largest economies

#313

Prosperity is a curse. People are no longer having children in Poland. https://ec.europa.eu/eurostat/statistics-explained/index.php...

It's not prosperity, but consumerism . Consumerism causes demographic decline, because it unhinges people's priorities. Their conception of the purpose of life becomes more materialistic, and children compete with that kind of materialistic, self-indulgent consumption. In that sense, the Poles have been seduced by consumerism.

First time I hear this explanation of why demographics is in decline in Europe and it kind of makes sense, every so often having this discussion about having children people bring up that they wont be able to enjoy things anymore, like travel, which in itself is a form of consumerism - buying the "experience"

Re: Poland is now among the 20 largest economies

#314

In the United States, Red/Right leaning States typically receive more federal funding than Blue States. Red States get 'propped up'. I bet a lot of people here criticizing that EU funding went to Poland are typically Right Leaning, and think they are making a some killer point about socialism, when back home they are also taking in the hand out money.

This is a poorly supported take, once you factor in the productive parts of the economy. If you have a lot of farmland in a red state and the profits are reported in a blue state, then counting the reported profits on the corporate balance sheet will give a distorted picture of what is happening. Look at e.g. General Mills, based in a blue state, but a great deal of what they buy are ag inputs from red states.

That is a good point.

But wouldn't the farm, selling to the big corp, realize the profits in their own state? Or are you saying the farms are owned by General Mills?

I was under the impression that most of the farms are owned separately and sell to General Mills.

Re: Poland is now among the 20 largest economies

#315
post #295
post #237

Earlier quoted context omitted.

OTOH, the more developed EU countries want the less developed countries to be reasonably well-off, so they can keep buying stuff from them. E.g. 56% of Germany's exports went to other EU countries in 2025. And, while Trump and Xi Jin Ping are around, that's only going to become more important...

"56% of Germany's exports went to other EU countries in 2025" - because those products are no longer competitive in the open market.

Yeah, they're so uncompetitive that Trump had to introduce tariffs to keep them out. China is a different topic, but I wouldn't generally call German products uncompetitive...

Re: Poland is now among the 20 largest economies

#316
post #162

Earlier quoted context omitted.

That’s not what I said. I said there are more important things to increase the wellbeing of the citizens of a country than democracy. In other words, a country can use democracy as a tool to destroy itself.

Maybe. But I don't think you will find any of those things without strong democracy.

which things? care to be more specific?

Re: Poland is now among the 20 largest economies

#317
post #304

Earlier quoted context omitted.

Think of it as an investment. The rest of the EU also benefits from their hard work, and economic prosperity. Other countries in the EU have also enjoyed economic growth and support over the years. I'm old enough to remember internal borders with passport checks in Europe, before the wall fell and Poland was still on the other side of that. Nice to see them moving on from that. Thanks to the EU free movement of peopl…

>Think of it as an investment. An economic investment as well as one of solidarity. People forget that the EU is a peace project that ensures peace via economic cooperation. This nuance seems trivial but is actually massively important. I can see trust degrading in the US but being fortified across the EU. Look at Hungary recently, they did a 180 not because of Brussels or Berlin saying they should. Hungarians are sc…

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Re: Poland is now among the 20 largest economies

#318

Earlier quoted context omitted.

Polish education has a long tradition of excellence. Indeed, the last decade has seen reforms that have been heavily criticized for working against that.

You mean "MBA for a fee" Collegium Tumanum, or the best elite two universities which globally barely rank somewhere in the fifth hundred? Sorry it's not education. Poles are cheap and subservient, while cutthroat among each other.

Poland is fifth in the world with gold medals in informatics Olympiad

https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/International_Olympiad_in_Info...

But yeah, it’s just cause they’re cheap and subservient right.

Re: Poland is now among the 20 largest economies

#319
post #97

I love the polish, but credit where credit is due: „Poland is the largest beneficiary of EU funds 2014-2020, with one in four euro going to Poland“ https://www.gov.pl/web/funds-regional-policy/poland-at-the-f... Update: The comments below this are strange. I ment: „Poland gets money, Poland transforms it into more money”. Is Poland more efficient in it than other countries? I do not know. Would Poland have generated…

They're also the 3rd smallest net recipient of EU funds per capita: https://i.imgur.com/VlRkDMy.png

WTF is up with Luxembourg on that graph?

It is a tax haven, with one of the highest GDP / person in the world, why is it, by magnitudes, the biggest recipient of EU largesse / person??!

Re: Poland is now among the 20 largest economies

#320
post #249

Earlier quoted context omitted.

Think of it as an investment. The rest of the EU also benefits from their hard work, and economic prosperity. Other countries in the EU have also enjoyed economic growth and support over the years. I'm old enough to remember internal borders with passport checks in Europe, before the wall fell and Poland was still on the other side of that. Nice to see them moving on from that. Thanks to the EU free movement of peopl…

> The rest of the EU also benefits from their hard work I don't know. I want to agree with you, but a large part of the economic growth in Poland is off-shoring and cheap tax (~12% on contract) for tech workers. The average tech wage there now is pretty similar to the UK, and I don't really see many startups there - probably in part because of how bureaucratic their business system can be. I don't know if this influx…

Do you have any sources for the claim that a large part of growth is off-shoring?

Because that seems extremely implausible, and actually very insulting to the incredible success of Eastern Europe, before and after joining the EU, in closing the gap to Western Europe over the last 3 decades.

https://ourworldindata.org/grapher/gdp-per-capita-worldbank?...

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