How Poland and Vietnam escaped poverty
17 October 2024
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Monetary Policy
16 October 2024
In the Media
Uncategorized
17 October 2024
Kristian Niemietz writes for CityAM
IEA Editorial Director Dr Kristian Niemietz has written for CityAM on how Poland and Vietnam escaped poverty through opening up to freer markets.
Kristian wrote:
“Case studies in recent economic history typically deal with unambiguous success stories, or unambiguous cautionary tales: countries that are either much richer, or much poorer, than their neighbours.
“If you chose that approach, you would have picked neither Poland nor Vietnam as case studies. Neither is particularly remarkable by regional standards. Poland is about as wealthy as the Czech Republic, Slovakia, Hungary and Lithuania. Vietnam, meanwhile, is not as poor as Laos and Cambodia, but poorer than China and Thailand.
“But if we look at relative changes over time, we get a very different picture. Over the past 30-odd years, both Poland and Vietnam have been among the world’s fastest-growing economies, albeit from a low base. During the same period, they have also been among the world’s most ambitious economic liberalisers, albeit, again, from a low base, starting as planned socialist economies. Both are case studies in post-socialist transitions: in Poland’s case, towards a Western-style market-economy, and in Vietnam’s case, towards a mixed economy with major market elements.”
You can read the full article here.
Kristian wrote:
“Case studies in recent economic history typically deal with unambiguous success stories, or unambiguous cautionary tales: countries that are either much richer, or much poorer, than their neighbours.
“If you chose that approach, you would have picked neither Poland nor Vietnam as case studies. Neither is particularly remarkable by regional standards. Poland is about as wealthy as the Czech Republic, Slovakia, Hungary and Lithuania. Vietnam, meanwhile, is not as poor as Laos and Cambodia, but poorer than China and Thailand.
“But if we look at relative changes over time, we get a very different picture. Over the past 30-odd years, both Poland and Vietnam have been among the world’s fastest-growing economies, albeit from a low base. During the same period, they have also been among the world’s most ambitious economic liberalisers, albeit, again, from a low base, starting as planned socialist economies. Both are case studies in post-socialist transitions: in Poland’s case, towards a Western-style market-economy, and in Vietnam’s case, towards a mixed economy with major market elements.”
You can read the full article here.
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