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Poland now 6th-largest EU economy, ahead of Switzerland and Belgium

euronews.com

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Re: Poland now 6th-largest EU economy, ahead of Switzerland and Belgium

#21

Post by Epa095 »

petcat wrote: post #8

I saw an interesting stat recently that the poorest USA state, Mississippi, has a larger economy and GDP than 1/3rd of all EU members. It just seems like the EU is too top-heavy and I wonder if that's where a lot of the discontent comes from. It seems like there a lot of micro-nations in eastern Europe that have outsized influence over the union as a whole.

15-20% of Mississippis GDP is healthcare cost.

Gdp is not really a great measure of how well an economy works for it's inhabitants, if it was we should all spend our time breaking each others windows.

Re: Poland now 6th-largest EU economy, ahead of Switzerland and Belgium

#22

Post by pjc50 »

rmason wrote: post #13

I spent some time in Poland three years ago and have not stopped talking about it ever since. It stood out from the other Eastern European countries that I visited on that trip. Had a lunch in Warsaw with a German friend who had relocated there. He said it was more Conservative than Germany and there was more freedom of expression. Over forty years of Communist rule and they were never able to pull them away from the…

It would be good to have real insights into how Poland is doing well just now, but (gestures at thread) it seems to be a lot of people bringing out their pet solutions.

Is the boom related to the removal of PiS in 2023? Is it linked to Ukraine (businesses and people relocating across the border? Arms sales?)

Re: Poland now 6th-largest EU economy, ahead of Switzerland and Belgium

#23

Post by stephenhuey »

1313ed01 wrote: post #7
ramino wrote: post #5

Lol Switzerland isn’t in the EU.

I wonder if the title was meant to say Sweden, as the text mentions Sweden and Belgium? The map at the bottom correctly excludes Switzerland. It does however include Norway and Iceland.

Probably so, since the article text does not even mention Switzerland at all! And from what I can find, Poland is ahead of Sweden but not Switzerland (currently neck and neck with Switzerland).

Re: Poland now 6th-largest EU economy, ahead of Switzerland and Belgium

#24

Post by inglor_cz »

mmooss wrote: post #17
petcat wrote: post #8

I saw an interesting stat recently that the poorest USA state, Mississippi, has a larger economy and GDP than 1/3rd of all EU members. It just seems like the EU is too top-heavy and I wonder if that's where a lot of the discontent comes from. It seems like there a lot of micro-nations in eastern Europe that have outsized influence over the union as a whole.

> there a lot of micro-nations in eastern Europe that have outsized influence over the union as a whole Would you give an example of when that has happened? > It just seems like the EU is too top-heavy The EU intentionally admitted many poorer countries, to promote freedom, security and stability in Europe in the long term. Without EU membership, they would be under pressure from Russia and others. > discontent What…

> The EU intentionally admitted many poorer countries, to promote freedom, security and stability in Europe in the long term. Without EU membership, they would be under pressure from Russia and others.

This is a bit of a non-sequitur, at least as far as Eurozone's anemic growth is concerned. France and Germany stagnating isn't caused by Poland or Romania growing. It is mostly their own internal systemic problems. There were times when German and Polish economies were both healthy, as little as 10 years ago.

Sweden, another rich EU member, should grow by healthy 2.2 per cent this year, but Sweden is a lot more willing to actually reform its way out of problems than Germany is. Smaller countries have less inertia in such situations, and more maneuvering space.

Re: Poland now 6th-largest EU economy, ahead of Switzerland and Belgium

#25

Post by ManuelKiessling »

rmason wrote: post #13

I spent some time in Poland three years ago and have not stopped talking about it ever since. It stood out from the other Eastern European countries that I visited on that trip. Had a lunch in Warsaw with a German friend who had relocated there. He said it was more Conservative than Germany and there was more freedom of expression. Over forty years of Communist rule and they were never able to pull them away from the…

Wouldn’t „more freedom of expression“ imply less conservative?

Or what aspects of conservatism, and what aspects of freedom of expression, are you referring to here?

Re: Poland now 6th-largest EU economy, ahead of Switzerland and Belgium

#26

Post by petcat »

mmooss wrote: post #17
petcat wrote: post #8

I saw an interesting stat recently that the poorest USA state, Mississippi, has a larger economy and GDP than 1/3rd of all EU members. It just seems like the EU is too top-heavy and I wonder if that's where a lot of the discontent comes from. It seems like there a lot of micro-nations in eastern Europe that have outsized influence over the union as a whole.

> there a lot of micro-nations in eastern Europe that have outsized influence over the union as a whole Would you give an example of when that has happened? > It just seems like the EU is too top-heavy The EU intentionally admitted many poorer countries, to promote freedom, security and stability in Europe in the long term. Without EU membership, they would be under pressure from Russia and others. > discontent What…

> What discontent do you mean?

I mean, Brexit was the ultimate discontent and it didn't just come out of nowhere. It's still very recent history and, as far as I know, the circumstances that caused it haven't really changed.

Re: Poland now 6th-largest EU economy, ahead of Switzerland and Belgium

#27

Post by riffraff »

petcat wrote: post #26
mmooss wrote: post #17

Earlier quoted context omitted.

> there a lot of micro-nations in eastern Europe that have outsized influence over the union as a whole Would you give an example of when that has happened? > It just seems like the EU is too top-heavy The EU intentionally admitted many poorer countries, to promote freedom, security and stability in Europe in the long term. Without EU membership, they would be under pressure from Russia and others. > discontent What…

> What discontent do you mean? I mean, Brexit was the ultimate discontent and it didn't just come out of nowhere. It's still very recent history and, as far as I know, the circumstances that caused it haven't really changed.

Brexit came out of a many years campaign to steer up hate against the EU. Boris Johnson famously said that was his job as a journalist.

And of course, out of the middle class crisis in the 21st century. You have the same discontent outside the EU, except it doesn't get blamed on Bruxelles. That's how Trump gets elected, for example.

Re: Poland now 6th-largest EU economy, ahead of Switzerland and Belgium

#28

Post by imdsm »

ManuelKiessling wrote: post #25
rmason wrote: post #13

I spent some time in Poland three years ago and have not stopped talking about it ever since. It stood out from the other Eastern European countries that I visited on that trip. Had a lunch in Warsaw with a German friend who had relocated there. He said it was more Conservative than Germany and there was more freedom of expression. Over forty years of Communist rule and they were never able to pull them away from the…

Wouldn’t „more freedom of expression“ imply less conservative? Or what aspects of conservatism, and what aspects of freedom of expression, are you referring to here?

Not if your tradition is to have freedom. Then to be a conservative means to conserve freedom. Think about the UK & US. The conservatives don't want to change what it means to be American/British, but the far left want to change it all. They want to change: ownership, innovation, free market, property, freedom of speech/expression, freedom of thought/opinion, employment, government, you name it.

Conservatives = resist change Progressive = encourage change

and change goes both ways -/+ right? We know this.

In Poland, they want to have a place to call home that feels European, feels Western. In the UK if you say that, straight-to-jail.gif or less flippantly, threatened and shunned by either people who don't want you to have an opinion or people afraid of them.

It's a sorry state of affairs.

Re: Poland now 6th-largest EU economy, ahead of Switzerland and Belgium

#29

Post by newsclues »

ManuelKiessling wrote: post #25
rmason wrote: post #13

I spent some time in Poland three years ago and have not stopped talking about it ever since. It stood out from the other Eastern European countries that I visited on that trip. Had a lunch in Warsaw with a German friend who had relocated there. He said it was more Conservative than Germany and there was more freedom of expression. Over forty years of Communist rule and they were never able to pull them away from the…

Wouldn’t „more freedom of expression“ imply less conservative? Or what aspects of conservatism, and what aspects of freedom of expression, are you referring to here?

No, think of the US founders who were freedom of speech champions.

Re: Poland now 6th-largest EU economy, ahead of Switzerland and Belgium

#30

Post by wat10000 »

troupo wrote: post #18
petcat wrote: post #8

I saw an interesting stat recently that the poorest USA state, Mississippi, has a larger economy and GDP than 1/3rd of all EU members. It just seems like the EU is too top-heavy and I wonder if that's where a lot of the discontent comes from. It seems like there a lot of micro-nations in eastern Europe that have outsized influence over the union as a whole.

The US is a great example of why GDP is a largely meaningless metric. Yes, the States' GDP is ginormous, and yet it's basically a third-world country masquerading as a first-world one on most metrics that actually matter to people.

Which metrics are those?

Things don’t look great for the poorest Americans, but the average American isn’t living a life that’s even remotely third world.

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