ABSTRACT
The first Eastern bloc nation to break away from the Soviet monolithic approach, Poland is now embarked on an ambitious move to a market-oriented economy. The Poles envision a movement toward a private enterprise economy, such as the one that characterizes the United States. From a broader perspective, Poland has been the pacesetter among Eastern European nations. The courageous actions of the Solidarity union leaders have encouraged the freedom movements in East Germany, Hungary, Czechoslovakia, Bulgaria, and Rumania. The creation of an attractive business environment is essential to attract large amounts of new private investment. An improved business climate would be a by-product of Poland's basic economic policies, notably low inflation, privatization, and elimination of regulatory obstacles to business. The negative factors facing the country and its policymakers are numerous: ancient capital equipment, overstaffed factories, and workers used to an environment with little incentive to produce.
