The Joke's Not On Poland

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[scandia]

Hi Ash, I don’t have anything to add to your post. I’m just practicing:)
Seriously I have several Polish friends who emigrated to Canada, fine, hard working, exceptionally hospitable people. Canada scored big when they chose to come here.
Just this morning I spoke with a Greek woman who runs a restaurant in my town, a fixture on the main street for many years. I asked her for news from relatives in Greece as all her family are still there. she says they are worried, even scared. It must be difficult to get up every day nad not know what kind of future there will be. She is especially concerned about a nephew and niece with gov’t jobs. Our conversation ended with the two choices available. The old folks ( her parents ) can forgo the guarantee of a pensioned future or they came keep the pension and send the younger genereations into debt slavery. Tough go all round. I was thinking as I walked home how far the ripples of a crisis extend as in all the way from Athens to my small Ontario town. Will disposable income decline here as my neighbours send what they have back to the old countries? Interesting times…

[FrankSchoenburg]

Good for Poland. Thanks for the post.

[Robflynn]

“It certainly helps that Poland has been able to out-perform many of its European neighbors since the onset of the global financial crisis through relative currency devaluation”

Szolty has tracked the euro for most of the financial crisis, and rose against it in 2011.

“Poland has been one of the few countries to consistently act on that awareness and refuse to fall into the same trap.”
Poland werent admitted to the EU until 2004 and as soon as they got in applied for membership of the eurozone

And what people taking out loans in Swiss Francs has or doesn’t have to do with being tied to the euro I fail to see.

[ashvin]

Robflynn post=335 wrote: Szolty has tracked the euro for most of the financial crisis, and rose against it in 2011.

Poland werent admitted to the EU until 2004 and as soon as they got in applied for membership of the eurozone

Most EU countries are required to apply and eventually join the EZ once they meet certain criteria (they obviously skimped on the deficit requirement with a few countries). Just last year, Polish politicians announced they were pushing back their target date of joining in 2014-16, and given the EZ situation and increasing public opposition in Poland of joining, I’d say there’s a good chance it will never happen.

And what people taking out loans in Swiss Francs has or doesn’t have to do with being tied to the euro I fail to see.

The point was that it doesn’t mean much to stay out of the EZ if a large portion of debtors in the country have taken out loans from Western European banks denominated in euros. Like other Eastern European countries, Poland’s problem has been more with taking out loans in CHF rather than EUR, and I pointed that out to make it clear that it has by no means escaped the GFC and home free. Still, it’s problems would be greatly compounded if it was in the EZ or about to join soon.

[Supergravity]

My grandpa was from Poland.
Its said he joined the polish resistance when the germans invaded, and that most of his home village was killed or deported, but also that the locals didn’t protest or resist much when the jews were taken first.
He moved to germany as a laborer, then was ratted out by a colleague, either for being polish or for being in the resistance. He was captured, tortured by the gestapo and sent to Dachau, and somehow survived there until the camp was liberated at the end of the war.
I used to get letters from family in Poland, but couldn’t read a word.

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