Poland’s ascent from communist state to top 20 economy reverses the brain drain

‘We got over communism, and now we are a country with a strong economy,’ Over the four decades since regaining its independence from Soviet-dominated rule, Poland has been transformed. Excluding oil-exporting states and financial hubs, incomes have converged with western levels at the fastest rate in the world; from 40% of the EU average in the mid-1990s to 81% last year. National income surpassed $1tn (£755bn) last year, ranking Poland among the world’s 20 largest economies. International Monetary Fund projections show income per capita will soon overtake Japan and Spain. the Gdańsk shipworkers’ Solidarność movement and Pope John Paul II’s...