News / Poland highest inflation in 20 years [319]


it is a strange experience trying to debate with you jon - I think I will pass for now

News / Poland highest inflation in 20 years [319]


I tried to say that PiS policies are risky (to my understanding and I am not the finance minister) and can backfire badly - but if it all turns out good the tax cuts for the poorest (most pensioners will pay no tax according to the government proposals) can be an election winner for PiS

- also if you think the Polish Deal policies (that include the tax cuts) are populist it was first PSL who proposed the tax free earnings in the range of 30 000 PLN (close to the current government proposal) - looks like PSL is equally as populist as PiS

(I just found that one of Rafał Trzaskowski's points of presidential programme was precisely this: 30 000 PLN tax free for the poorest - seems like the flagship of PO a while back was as populist as PiS - but well PO figures are known to make false promises)

News / Poland highest inflation in 20 years [319]


in theory it is a good idea to have interest rates higher than the inflation rate - the thing is most Russians don't have savings - which means Russian central banks only caters to those who have (which means it caters for the rich)


as far as I know Glapiński is responsible for monetary policy not fiscal policy

News / Poland highest inflation in 20 years [319]


you have probably missed the fact I posted that interest rate in Russia is on par with the inflation rate (and in Russia even fewer people have any savings than in Poland) - in comparison Polish basic interest is 1.25 per cent - a difference of 1 basic point compared to the US is hardly a huge one

News / Poland highest inflation in 20 years [319]


hush, don't you dare to unmask liberal double thinking :P

by the way, democracy in Poland can well mean just a facade if the ruling party bends to the EU pressure

but... well, Polish is already a facade democracy - only about 20 per cent of the adult population voted for PiS (you have to willfully ignore the fact that about 50 per cent of the population willfully chose to ignore general elections)

News / Poland highest inflation in 20 years [319]


most of those who had (have) no savings have benefited from social programmes like 500+ and 13th and 14th pension

I understand that the central bank and the Polish government are not really concerned about inflation currently because it increases nominal tax incomes while the nominal spendings remain the same - it may be shortsighted and can backfire in the longer run but cutting on taxes on fuels and electricity means more budget deficit now which doesn't look appealing either - I think the government wants to keep the economy growing even at the expense of higher inflation - growing economy means less unemployment

also let's take into account that the government plans on reducing income taxes for those with low income in the next year already - I don't know how this is going to affect the budget deficit (I think they resigned to the bigger budget deficits by now) - I really don't know how it turns out but inflation really plays into government promises - it looks like the tax cuts for the less well-off will have an impact on spending - it also can mean even more inflation which in short term the government will find beneficial/helpful but in the long run can render running businesses difficult

News / Poland highest inflation in 20 years [319]

maybe this is why Polish central bank is not too keen on raising the basic interest rate, don't you think

News / Poland highest inflation in 20 years [319]


that is those who had any savings - in 2021 44 per cent of Polish households had no savings - it is still better than the year 2013 when about 60 per cent of Polish households had no savings (my family belongs to those who have no savings)

News / Poland highest inflation in 20 years [319]


inflation in Russia is forecast at 7.4 to 7.9 per cent at the end of 2021 - and main Russian basic interest rate is 7.5 per cent - the thing is in Poland people have long taken their savings from bank accounts and either spent the money or invested them somewhere else

News / Years of Poland in the EU - assessment of pros and cons [1199]


ok - I passed information that was out of date - the Koberice gypsum mine has been depleted by 2012 - what remains there is just a big hole in the ground

News / Years of Poland in the EU - assessment of pros and cons [1199]


there is also the case of the Czech gypsum open mine near Ostrava on the border with Poland - Poland even ceded some land a couple of years ago to Czechs so they could expand the mine - might be interesting to see how it affects the ground water levels in the vicinity

News / Poland highest inflation in 20 years [319]


virtually all years in the post-communism Poland included deficit (some years were just worse than other) - PiS had more budget income than they predicted in most years (bar 2020 covid slump)

News / Poland highest inflation in 20 years [319]


inflation is estimated at 4.5 per cent in Germany for October 2021 and depending on the source 4.2 to 5.4 in the US

News / Abortion still under control in Poland [2986]

yes, I do - sue me

News / Poland highest inflation in 20 years [319]


the budget income in 2014 (PO+PSL regime) was 283,5 billion PLN - in 2019 (before the covid with PiS in power) the budget income was 400,5 billion PLN with inflation of about 5 per cent between the two dates - it means a growth of around 40 per cent (not counting in inflation)

in 2021 the budget income is predicted at 483 billion

News / Abortion still under control in Poland [2986]


if it wasn't then neither PiS or doctors can be blamed - probably just bad karma


yeah - that's how liberals perceive democracy - if we win it's democracy - if not it's not democracy anymore

News / Years of Poland in the EU - assessment of pros and cons [1199]

in the country where access to the solicitor/attorney proffession was until 2005 limited by the very self-governing body of solicitors/attorneys(samorząd adwokacki) I very much do object to such instances

News / Years of Poland in the EU - assessment of pros and cons [1199]


the communism is gone so I only don't want to see dynasties of judges in a democracy - anyway I'm all for judges being elected by the populace like in many states of the US


you believe in propaganda - while Polish populace is mostly in favour of membership in the EU, according to a new poll the vast majority is for a union of sovereing states as opposed to a European superstate

News / Poland highest inflation in 20 years [319]


johhny reb - didn't you know that PiS is the dark power that rules the world behind the scenes - also by some weird twist of turns they manage to be puppets of Putin at the same time

News / Years of Poland in the EU - assessment of pros and cons [1199]


in the democratic Poland judges were not appointed by the government - instead a committee dominated by the top echelon of the judges appointed them

News / Poland highest inflation in 20 years [319]


the likes of jon don't believe that PiS will give up power in a democratic way - I do -

as an explanation I will give you the results of Polish municipal elections of 2014 when the PSL party scored 23 per cent of vote (when the exit polls gave it around 17 per cent of vote) - the election and counting of votes was marred with scandal and a couple of Election Committee memebers resigned) - this is why PiS was going to take measures against rigging of elections

also PiS doesn't look up or evern praise dictators - Recep Erdogan is a legally elected leader as is the Fidesz leader Viktor Orban

News / Years of Poland in the EU - assessment of pros and cons [1199]

@Bratwurst Boy
could you rephrase that - I don't what you mean, to be honest

News / Years of Poland in the EU - assessment of pros and cons [1199]


you don't know what judge dynasties are - I can sure explain - a grandfather was a stalinist judge - then the mother or father were judges in the milder forms of Volksrepublik Polen (you know loyal people were necessary) - then in a new Poland her daughter became a judge (what a surprise) - to a greater surprise their offspring study to become judges (I have personally seen a person like this who was saying while being interviewed during street protests: 'I am very affraid of the PiS judicial reforms - I study to become judge like my parents were' (of course it's not word for word)

News / Years of Poland in the EU - assessment of pros and cons [1199]

a quote of wikipedia on German judiciary: "The mostly decisive influence of the administration on the career of judges is exceptional in continental Europe, where mostly bodies of judges, elected by and within the judiciary take this kind of decision"

another quote from the same wikipedia entry: "As a rule, each decision on the initial employment, vesting with lifetime tenure or promotion of a judge is taken by the department of justice"

you may call it what you wish, I call it political influence on the judiciary

News / Years of Poland in the EU - assessment of pros and cons [1199]


- if German politicians appoint new judges is it not a violation of separation of powers??
- if so then yes Polish system was a perfect example of separation of powers because new judged were appointed by the top echelon of existing judges, in practice (with all the "irregularities", harmful loyalties which that entails including the expected political bias of the judiciary elites - you'd expect judge dynasties? no? we have some of those, too)


if judges act as politicians, do you think we should rely on their impartiality?

News / Years of Poland in the EU - assessment of pros and cons [1199]


the lessons of Germany don't always apply to Poland

News / Years of Poland in the EU - assessment of pros and cons [1199]


there is hardly any political control - there are a couple of judges who were dismissed from their posts and two or three who are suspended (=not given any cases to judge) - the remaining judges are free to judge according to their conscious (yes I said conscious because some of them pass verdicts that are not only openly against the will of the governing party but also against the rhyme and reason)

if you didn't know as per the letter of the law German politicians have more power over appointing judges than those in Poland


there is a similar case with Polish communities affected by a mine in Germany (ironically owned by Czech oligarchs)

News / Poland highest inflation in 20 years [319]

inflation October 2021 (year to year): Poland - 6.8 %; the US - 4.2 % ( bbc.com/news/business-57090421 ) and here: tradingeconomics.com/united-states/inflation-cpi

News / Abortion still under control in Poland [2986]


it doesn't matter if the fetus is viable or not - if the preganancy threatens the life of the mother it can be terminated: tvp.info/52053825/kiedy-aborcja-w-polsce-jest-dopuszczalna-co-zmienil-wyrok-trybunalu-konstytucyjnego

an excerpt from the article in Polish: W uzasadnieniu wyroku TK zapisano jednak, że aborcja jest dopuszczalna w przypadku, gdy "duże prawdopodobieństwo ciężkiego i nieodwracalnego upośledzenia płodu albo nieuleczalnej choroby zagrażającej jego życiu wiąże się z zagrożeniem dla życia i zdrowia matki".


then blame it on doctors cause as per TK verdict the law allows the termination

as a side note: I'm not in favour of the latest TK verdict on abortion - however all this argument here uses a strawman

News / Abortion still under control in Poland [2986]


again abortion law allows for termination of a pregnancy that threatens the life of the mother or is a serious threat to her health - what's there not to understand

also you take a word of a foreigner (Atch) for interpretation of Polish law - not wise if you ask me