::::*I fail to see your point here. We can of course compare Poland to other communist countries, or Latin/Middle East/African corruptocracies to show it didn't fair badly by itself, but it would only prove that there are other inefficient economic systems beyond communism. The only useful comparission (in the culture section) is with the Western boomining capitalist economies, which, even considering the brief stagflation and recession post-1973, greatly outperfomed rest of the world (which is not divided into 'First, Second and Third' for no reason). I don't know if the impact of their perfomance on non-commie countries was same as here, but in Poland, as Balcer pointed out, it vastly contributed to the public dissatisfaction along the lines: "Why are we poor when they are so rich?". Rembemr that in 1980s many ppl, including those in the Solidarity movement, wanted to import 'democracy+capitalism' in one year, and also thought that they would became rich as Westerners in one year. This led to the new wave of dissatisfaction after Balcerowicz reforms, the return of the 'post-communists' and such, but I think this belongs more in 1989+ history section.