Kryzys gospodarczy w latach 1979-1982 zwiastunem upadku PRL
The economic crisis of 1979-1982 heralded the fallof the Polish People's Republic

Summary/Abstract: Purpose – The article points to the important role of the economic crisis of 1979-1982 in the process of the collapse of the political and economic system imposed on Poland after 1944. Research method – The paper written on the basis of the economic history method, makes an extensive use of the available literature on the subject, the published documents of state authorities, archives, statistics and legal acts. Results – The Author proves that the end of the seventies, which is generally considered the bestperiodin the economy of the People’s Republic of Poland, brought about a crisis and a recession lasting four years. Their causes lay in the erroneous economic policy of the Edward Gierek’s team and in the deformations of the economy management system stemming from older times. The crisis of1979-1982 showed that the centrally planned economy system in Poland had exhausted its possibilities and even external capital injections were not able to compensate for the low efficiency and the wastafulness in “the real socialism”.Originality /value – The article is a contribution to the still lively, often fueled by contradictory arguments, discussion on the fall of the Polish People’s Republic.

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