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Poland
Index
Centralized planning ranged from broad, long-range
statements
of fundamental future development to guidance on the
operation of
specific enterprises. The basic planning unit for
transformation
of the Polish economy was the five-year plan, the first of
which
began in 1956. Within that framework, current production
goals
were established in an annual operational plan, called the
National Economic Plan. As the years passed, these plans
contained more and more specific detail; because
requirements and
supplies could not be forecast in advance, plans were
inconsistent and constantly needed revision.
The Soviet system had already encountered difficulties,
however, in the overly ambitious Six-Year Plan of 1950-55.
Maladjustments, shortages, and bottlenecks appeared in the
implementation of that plan, which was intended to create
the
infrastructure for the industrial future: heavy industry,
mining,
and power generation. In 1956, after workers' riots in
Poznan, a
general uprising was averted only by a change in the
leadership
of the communist party, the Polish United Workers' Party
(Polska
Zjednoczona Partia Robotnicza--PZPR). The new government
of
Wladyslaw Gomulka promised modification of the system and
changes
in the development strategy. Consumer goods received a
larger
share of the national product, and some quantities of
grain and
food were imported from the West. State control was
mitigated by
giving limited policy input to enterprises, and the rate
of
investment was reduced. Although a lively debate occurred
on socalled "market socialism," actual systemic reforms were
limited
and short-lived. Among the reform measures of 1956, the
only
significant lasting change was the decollectivization of
agriculture.
Data as of October 1992
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