the eastern wall经济学人

the eastern wall经济学人

TheEasternWall2014-06-28Poland’spoorer,lessdevelopedeaststillhasalotofcatchinguptodoNOTMANYPEOPLEtuneinthesedays,butRadioMaryjastillhassomepoliticalclout.Theultra-conservativebroadcasterarticulatesthefeelingsofPolesalienatedbytheircountry’snew,materialistbusinesscultureandbywhattheyseeasthemoraldecayofsociety.Foundedin1991,itfilledavacuum.FatherTadeuszRydzyk,theentrepreneurialRomanCatholicpriestwhorunstheradiostation,sawthatthisunhappychunkofthepopulationneededamouthpiece.HehasturneditintoalucrativebusinessthatincludesaprivateuniversityandevenanaquaparkinTorun,wherehisradiostationisbased.RadioMaryja’smostfaithfullistenerstendtobeold,liveinruralareasineasternPolandandvotefortheconservativePiS.Theyarepartof“PolskaB”,thepoorer,lessdevelopedPoland,asopposedto“PolskaA”,thegrowthcentresinWarsawandinwesternPoland,aroundPoznanandWroclaw.Thedivisionamountstomorethanadifferenceinwealth.“ThereisalsotheperceptionofaculturaldividebetweenthetwoPolands,withPolskaBbeingperceivedasbackwardcivilisationally,behindawschodniasciana(EasternWall),”saysPadraicKenney,acentralEuropespecialistatIndianaUniversity.\nTheeast-westdividedatesbacktothe15century,whenEuropeansventuredtoAsiaandtheAmericasandinternationaltradetookoff.WesternEuropeexpandedabroadbyestablishingcoloniesandtookupmanufacturingandtrade,whereasPolandandmostofcentralEuropestuckwithagriculture.PolandandUkraine,ruledbytheirpowerfulnobility,becameEurope’sgranary.Feudalismremainedprevalentandcitieslostpoliticalandeconomicpower.AfterPoland’sthreepartitionsinthe18century,westernPolandbecamepartofarapidlyindustrialisingPrussianempire,southernPolandwasswallowedbythemightyAustro-HungarianempireandcentralandeasternPolandwascontrolledbythebackwardtsaristempire.PolandthusreflectedEurope’seast-westdivide.Inthewesternpartofthecountryfarms,manyofthemlarge,producedforthemarket,whereasintheeastsubsistencefarmingwasdominant.In1900theaverageannualincomeperpersoninPrussianPolandwas$113,inGalicia(theprovinceunderAustrianrule)$38andintheRussian-dominatedpartofPoland$21,accordingtoWlodzimierzBorodziej’shistoryofthecountry.Therelativedensityoftherailwaynetworkin1914reflectedthatdivide:thickinthewest,sparseintheeast.AfterthefirstworldwarnewlyindependentPolandmadeagoodjobofunifyingthethreepartsofthecountryadministratively,economicallyandculturally.Yetthesecondrepubliclastedonlytwodecades,untiltheGermaninvasionofPolandin1939.AfterthewarthemismanagementoftheeconomybyPoland’scommunistrulersmadethewholecountrymoreorlessequallymiserable.Whencommunismcollapsed,thedividebetweeneastandwest,aswellasruralandurban,re-emergedwithavengeance.Thisnewinequalityhelpedpropelthepost-communistDemocraticLeftAllianceintopowerin1993.JustfiveyearsafterthecollapseoftheSovietUnion,incomeperpersoninPoland’spoorestregionswasaquarterofthatinWarsaw,saysPhilippTheratVienna\nUniversity.Andanotherfiveyearsontheproportionwasonlyone-fifth,aboutthesameasin1900.ThedifferenceskeptwideninguntiljustafterPolandjoinedtheEU.In2005theaverageincomeinWarsawwas€19,100(then$28,800),comparedwith€4,000inPoland’spoorestregions,accordingtoMrTher.ThepeakofPoland’sinequality,theyearsimmediatelyafteraccessiontotheEU,werealsotheheydayofRadioMaryja,whichwasclosetothePiSgovernmentinofficein2005-07.ThejokemakingtheroundsatthetimewasthatthePiSgovernmentwasoneoftheworld’smosttechnologicallyadvanced:itwasradio-controlled.EUmembershiphasgiveneasternPolandabigboost.Between2007and2013itreceived€2.3billionfromtheEU’sstructuralandcohesionfund,saysthePolishAgencyforForeignInvestment,andthestatechippedinanother€400m.Podlaskie,Lubelskie,Podkarpackie,Warminsko-MazurskieandSwietokrzyskie,Poland’sfivepoorestprovinces,usedthesefundsformuch-neededimprovementstoroadsandotherinfrastructure,betterinternetaccessandencouragingsmallbusinesses.Butasignificantgapremains.TheLubelskieprovincearoundLublinremainsthepoorestinPoland.Around36%ofthelabourforcethereisinagriculture,morethantwicethenationalaverage,mostlyonsmallfarmswithlowproductivity.Asidefromfarming,themainemployeristhepublicsector.Theshareofpublicservantsintheprovinceis50%higherthaninthecountryasawhole,accordingtoErnst&Young,aconsultancy.PayisbelowthatintherestofPoland.InLublinajunioraccountantwithoneortwoyears’experienceearnsaround€7,200ayear,whereasinWroclaw,inwesternPoland,therateforthejobisaround€10,000.Internetaccessisstillmostlypoorandunemploymentishigherthanthenationalaverage.\nLeveragingLublinTheregionisdepopulating.Lotsofpeopleemigrate,andthosewhostaybehindhavesmallfamilies.Lublindoeshavefivepublicandseveralprivateuniversities,withmorethan80,000students,butaftergraduatingthebestgotoWarsaworabroad.Therearefewlocaljobopportunitiesintheprivatesector.KrzysztofZuk,whohasbeenmayorofLublinsince2010,istryingtohelphiscitycatchupwithcitiesinthewest.HewasresponsiblefortheLublinDevelopmentStrategyfor2013-20,whichlaysoutsomeambitiousplansforthecity.“LublinisaimingtobeagatewaytoUkraineandRussia,”saysMariuszSagan,anadvisertothemayorandoneofthepaper’sauthors.TheideaistoturnLublin’svicinitytoshabby,shakyUkraineandpoor,ill-governedBelarustoitsadvantage.Lublinliesabout100km(62miles)fromtheborderwithUkraineand150kmfromthatwithBelarus.UkrainiansalreadyinvestinpropertyandsendtheirchildrentouniversityinLublin.Alltheuniversitieswouldlikemorefee-payingUkrainianstudents.AmongMrZuk’striumphssofarhavebeentherenovationofbuildingssuchastheTeatrStary(OldTheatre)inthebeautifulhistoriccitycentreandthecreationof4,000newjobsininformation-technologyandbusiness-process-outsourcingfirms.HeisparticularlyproudofLublin’sairport,whichwasfinishedin2012.Lastyear190,000passengerspassedthroughontheirwaytodestinationsinPolandandahandfulofEuropeancities.MrZukisalsobuildingroads,inparticularamotorwaytoWarsaw,whichismeanttobefinishedin2017.Atthemomentthe166kmjourneyfromLublintoWarsawtakesanerve-rackingthreehoursbycaronasingle-carriagewayroadbuzzingwithhugeUkrainianlorries.PiotrFalek,forone,isrelativelyoptimisticforLublin,hishometown,becauseofthebigpoolof\nuniversitygraduatesandthehighqualityoflifeinthegreencityanditssurroundings.Heisaspecimenstillrareinthearea:asuccessfulprivateentrepreneur.Hiscompany,Syntea,setupin2003,offersITservicesandeducationaltraining.Ithasaturnoverof€5.5mandaround100employees.Lastyearitagreedonatie-upwithAptech,aMumbai-basedprovideroftrainingandeducationservices,tooffercoursesforcabincrewsandaviationgroundstaff.Transportlinks,inparticularapoorroadnetwork,remainaproblemfortheareaaroundLublin.Thankstothehistoryofdivision,thereareonlythreebridgescrossingtheVistulariverbetweenKrakowandLublin.“Buttheairportisabigchangeforthebetter,”saysMrFalek.HehopesthatPoland’seconomycangrowtogetheragainwithouthavingtowaitanother123years.Fromtheprintedition:Specialreport