Commentary: Poland: A Beacon For The Rest Of Europe

For a newcomer, it was quite a scene. Merchants, artisans, and even bankers lined the streets to offer their products at a fair in Warsaw's Old Town on a recent Sunday afternoon. As a band played Louis Armstrong's Wonderful World and other tunes, prosperous-looking Poles shopped for private pension funds as well as locally made goods from candies to cosmetics. What a change from a decade ago, when on June 4, 1989, voters ended communist rule by overwhelmingly supporting Solidarity candidates in Poland's first competitive elections. Within months, communism had collapsed across eastern Europe.

Poland not only led the way. It now stands out as the post-communist world's biggest economic success story. After years of covering Russia--one of the world's biggest disappointments--I traveled to Poland to gain a better understanding of its success. In chats with local managers, economists, and entrepreneurs, a clear message came through: Poland has enjoyed brisk economic growth for most of the decade because it chose radical reform, and despite the pain, stuck with it.