Edward Lipinski
Encyclopedia
Edward Lipiński was a Polish
economist
, intellectual, social critic, and human rights advocate. Lipinski’s career spanned almost seven decades. Throughout his career, he held a series of advisory positions within the government, founded several organizations, and published books and essays on economic policy. His works concerned business cycle
s, growth theory and other areas in economics
. Fighter for Polish independence, Socialist activist in the Second Polish Republic
, opponent of communism
in the People's Republic of Poland
.
, Congress Poland
, Russian Empire
he was educated in Leipzig
from 1909-1912 and eventually obtained a doctorate
in economics
from the University of Zurich
prior to World War I
. He had been briefly jailed in 1906 for protesting Tsarist
rule in Poland. After the war, in 1918, he was a participant in the Polish-Soviet War
(1919-1920).
He organized and directed the Institute of Prices and Business Cycles in 1928. Since 1929 he was a professor
of Warsaw School of Economics
. He founded the Polish Central Statistical Office
, and Polish Economic Association. He also served as president of the Economic Association (1945-1965) and was an editor of Ekonomista (The Economist, a Polish publication), and a member of the Academy of Sciences
. Poland’s foremost economist, he was also a notable author whose works are widely read in his native Poland, though many have not yet been translated into English. In 1938 he actively opposed anti-semitic campaign carried at the university by some youth factions and supported by the Obóz Narodowo-Radykalny
party which eventually forced him to resign from his position at the School of Economics.
Always an active professor, Lipinski held underground classes
even during Nazi occupation of Poland
. After the war he briefly became the Chair of Economics at the Warsaw University and became one of the economic advisors to the Polish post-war government but his career has been somewhat derailed by the communist takeover of Poland after the war.
Lipinski, a member of the Polish Socialist Party
since 1906 was expelled from the party in 1946 when it merged with the Soviet-backed Communist party (Polish Workers Party) to which he was fervidly opposed; later however he joined the Polish United Workers Party (PZPR).
Throughout his post-World War II career he frequently clashed with communist government economists, regarding economic issues such as their reluctance to stray from Marx’ by then already dated economic principals. An outspoken critic of Stalinism
, Lipinski warned that “overorganization” of economic policy and rigid adherence to the party line even in the face of rapidly changing conditions that required immediate action beyond the scope of the routine would stifle growth. He was finally punished for his criticism when hardliner Stalinist faction (Bolesław Bierut and others) gained power in 1949; he was forced to resign as the Chair of Economics and banned from delivering some of his lectures (but not all) by the Polish Stalinist regime.
After the Polish October
he briefly returned as an economic advisor, but when the new government lost its zeal to reform, he became sidelined again. His candidature was one of many that were put forward by the people but discarded by the government screening commission in the Polish legislative election, 1957
.
Eventually Lipinski became one of the prominent critics of the government; his position as a known Marxist economist shielded him to certain existent from government persecution and allowed him to say things many others were unable to, although till the very end he remained convinced that some form of socialism
is preferable to the Western capitalism
. He signed three public letters criticizing the communist government: the Letter of 34 in 1964 and Letter of 59
and Letter of 14 in 1976. In 1977 he was finally expelled from the Polish communist party (PZPR).
In the spring of 1976 Lipinski sent an open letter to then Polish Communist Party head Edward Gierek
roundly criticizing the drastic price increase on foodstuffs that Gierek imposed in an attempt to balance Poland’s import based economy that relied heavily on western loans that it had difficulty paying back by the mid seventies. Gierek, who succeeded Władysław Gomułka, came to power by promising to improve the quality of life of the Polish worker by raising wages and stabilizing prices. In his letter Lipinski affirms that “socialism cannot be decreed. It is and may only be born of the free actions of free people” and pledges that “the movement of revival shall gain in strength, and that the recently intensifying repression will not contain it much longer…” Lipinski’s letter came shortly after massive strikes near Warsaw
which were a precursor to the strikes at Gdansk
in 1980 that forced the Polish government to recognize independent trade unions. The Gdansk Agreement
, as it came to be known, was made possible by the successful cooperation of workers and intellectuals.
The letter also coincided with the formation of the Worker’s Defense Committee. Also known as the KOR, this aid group founded by Edward Lipinski, Stanisław Barańczak, Jacek Bocheński, Jan Józef Lipski
and others that gave assistance to protestors and dissidents jailed after the widespread workers’ strikes that resulted from Gierek’s price hikes. The support of Lipinski and other intellectuals for these striking workers’ proved to be a catalyst for forcing Gierek to withdraw the increases. The assistance provided by the KOR and the continual activities of its members helped make the Gdansk agreement possible. On September 23, 1981 Lipinski gave a speech to Solidarity's first national congress disbanding the KOR. He heralded the arrival of Solidarity as a political force saying, the "KOR has recognized that its work has ended, and that other forces have arrived on a much more powerful scale. But the task of fighting for an independent Poland, for human and civil rights, is a fight that still must go on."
Selected bibliography of texts available in English:
Poles
thumb|right|180px|The state flag of [[Poland]] as used by Polish government and diplomatic authoritiesThe Polish people, or Poles , are a nation indigenous to Poland. They are united by the Polish language, which belongs to the historical Lechitic subgroup of West Slavic languages of Central Europe...
economist
Economist
An economist is a professional in the social science discipline of economics. The individual may also study, develop, and apply theories and concepts from economics and write about economic policy...
, intellectual, social critic, and human rights advocate. Lipinski’s career spanned almost seven decades. Throughout his career, he held a series of advisory positions within the government, founded several organizations, and published books and essays on economic policy. His works concerned business cycle
Business cycle
The term business cycle refers to economy-wide fluctuations in production or economic activity over several months or years...
s, growth theory and other areas in economics
Economics
Economics is the social science that analyzes the production, distribution, and consumption of goods and services. The term economics comes from the Ancient Greek from + , hence "rules of the house"...
. Fighter for Polish independence, Socialist activist in the Second Polish Republic
Second Polish Republic
The Second Polish Republic, Second Commonwealth of Poland or interwar Poland refers to Poland between the two world wars; a period in Polish history in which Poland was restored as an independent state. Officially known as the Republic of Poland or the Commonwealth of Poland , the Polish state was...
, opponent of communism
Communism
Communism is a social, political and economic ideology that aims at the establishment of a classless, moneyless, revolutionary and stateless socialist society structured upon common ownership of the means of production...
in the People's Republic of Poland
People's Republic of Poland
The People's Republic of Poland was the official name of Poland from 1952 to 1990. Although the Soviet Union took control of the country immediately after the liberation from Nazi Germany in 1944, the name of the state was not changed until eight years later...
.
Life
Born at Nowe MiastoNowe Miasto
Nowe Miasto is a common place-name in Poland.There are two Polish towns called Nowe Miasto:* Nowe Miasto Lubawskie in Warmian-Masurian Voivodeship , seat of Nowe Miasto County...
, Congress Poland
Congress Poland
The Kingdom of Poland , informally known as Congress Poland , created in 1815 by the Congress of Vienna, was a personal union of the Russian parcel of Poland with the Russian Empire...
, Russian Empire
Russian Empire
The Russian Empire was a state that existed from 1721 until the Russian Revolution of 1917. It was the successor to the Tsardom of Russia and the predecessor of the Soviet Union...
he was educated in Leipzig
Leipzig
Leipzig Leipzig has always been a trade city, situated during the time of the Holy Roman Empire at the intersection of the Via Regia and Via Imperii, two important trade routes. At one time, Leipzig was one of the major European centres of learning and culture in fields such as music and publishing...
from 1909-1912 and eventually obtained a doctorate
Doctorate
A doctorate is an academic degree or professional degree that in most countries refers to a class of degrees which qualify the holder to teach in a specific field, A doctorate is an academic degree or professional degree that in most countries refers to a class of degrees which qualify the holder...
in economics
Economics
Economics is the social science that analyzes the production, distribution, and consumption of goods and services. The term economics comes from the Ancient Greek from + , hence "rules of the house"...
from the University of Zurich
University of Zurich
The University of Zurich , located in the city of Zurich, is the largest university in Switzerland, with over 25,000 students. It was founded in 1833 from the existing colleges of theology, law, medicine and a new faculty of philosophy....
prior to World War I
World War I
World War I , which was predominantly called the World War or the Great War from its occurrence until 1939, and the First World War or World War I thereafter, was a major war centred in Europe that began on 28 July 1914 and lasted until 11 November 1918...
. He had been briefly jailed in 1906 for protesting Tsarist
Russian Empire
The Russian Empire was a state that existed from 1721 until the Russian Revolution of 1917. It was the successor to the Tsardom of Russia and the predecessor of the Soviet Union...
rule in Poland. After the war, in 1918, he was a participant in the Polish-Soviet War
Polish-Soviet War
The Polish–Soviet War was an armed conflict between Soviet Russia and Soviet Ukraine and the Second Polish Republic and the Ukrainian People's Republic—four states in post–World War I Europe...
(1919-1920).
He organized and directed the Institute of Prices and Business Cycles in 1928. Since 1929 he was a professor
Professor
A professor is a scholarly teacher; the precise meaning of the term varies by country. Literally, professor derives from Latin as a "person who professes" being usually an expert in arts or sciences; a teacher of high rank...
of Warsaw School of Economics
Warsaw School of Economics
Warsaw School of Economics is the oldest economic university in Poland.The Warsaw School of Economics was founded in 1906 as a private school under the name August Zieliński Private Trade Courses for Men. On 30 July 1919 it became a separate legal entity and was granted the status of an...
. He founded the Polish Central Statistical Office
Central Statistical Office, Poland
Central Statistical Office is Poland's chief government executive agency charged with collecting and publishing statistics related to the country's economy, population and society, at both national and local levels...
, and Polish Economic Association. He also served as president of the Economic Association (1945-1965) and was an editor of Ekonomista (The Economist, a Polish publication), and a member of the Academy of Sciences
Academy of Sciences
An Academy of Sciences is a national academy or another learned society dedicated to sciences.In non-English speaking countries, the range of academic fields of the members of a national Academy of Science often includes fields which would not normally be classed as "science" in English...
. Poland’s foremost economist, he was also a notable author whose works are widely read in his native Poland, though many have not yet been translated into English. In 1938 he actively opposed anti-semitic campaign carried at the university by some youth factions and supported by the Obóz Narodowo-Radykalny
Obóz Narodowo-Radykalny
The National Radical Camp was a Polish extreme right anti-semitic, anti-communist, and nationalist political party, formed on 14 April 1934 mostly by the youth radicals who left the National Party of the National Democracy movement....
party which eventually forced him to resign from his position at the School of Economics.
Always an active professor, Lipinski held underground classes
Education in Poland during World War II
This article covers the topic of underground education in Poland during World War II. Secret learning prepared new cadres for the post-war reconstruction of Poland and countered the German and Soviet threat to exterminate the Polish culture....
even during Nazi occupation of Poland
Occupation of Poland
Occupation of Poland may refer to:* Partitions of Poland * The German Government General of Warsaw and the Austrian Military Government of Lublin during World War I* Occupation of Poland during World War II...
. After the war he briefly became the Chair of Economics at the Warsaw University and became one of the economic advisors to the Polish post-war government but his career has been somewhat derailed by the communist takeover of Poland after the war.
Lipinski, a member of the Polish Socialist Party
Polish Socialist Party
The Polish Socialist Party was one of the most important Polish left-wing political parties from its inception in 1892 until 1948...
since 1906 was expelled from the party in 1946 when it merged with the Soviet-backed Communist party (Polish Workers Party) to which he was fervidly opposed; later however he joined the Polish United Workers Party (PZPR).
Throughout his post-World War II career he frequently clashed with communist government economists, regarding economic issues such as their reluctance to stray from Marx’ by then already dated economic principals. An outspoken critic of Stalinism
Stalinism
Stalinism refers to the ideology that Joseph Stalin conceived and implemented in the Soviet Union, and is generally considered a branch of Marxist–Leninist ideology but considered by some historians to be a significant deviation from this philosophy...
, Lipinski warned that “overorganization” of economic policy and rigid adherence to the party line even in the face of rapidly changing conditions that required immediate action beyond the scope of the routine would stifle growth. He was finally punished for his criticism when hardliner Stalinist faction (Bolesław Bierut and others) gained power in 1949; he was forced to resign as the Chair of Economics and banned from delivering some of his lectures (but not all) by the Polish Stalinist regime.
After the Polish October
Polish October
Polish October, also known as October 1956, Polish thaw, or Gomułka's thaw, marked a change in the Polish internal political scene in the second half of 1956...
he briefly returned as an economic advisor, but when the new government lost its zeal to reform, he became sidelined again. His candidature was one of many that were put forward by the people but discarded by the government screening commission in the Polish legislative election, 1957
Polish legislative election, 1957
The Polish legislative election of 1957 was the second election to the Sejm, the parliament of the People's Republic of Poland, and the third in Communist Poland). It took place on 20 January, during the liberalization period following Władysław Gomułka's ascension to power. Although freer than...
.
Eventually Lipinski became one of the prominent critics of the government; his position as a known Marxist economist shielded him to certain existent from government persecution and allowed him to say things many others were unable to, although till the very end he remained convinced that some form of socialism
Socialism
Socialism is an economic system characterized by social ownership of the means of production and cooperative management of the economy; or a political philosophy advocating such a system. "Social ownership" may refer to any one of, or a combination of, the following: cooperative enterprises,...
is preferable to the Western capitalism
Capitalism
Capitalism is an economic system that became dominant in the Western world following the demise of feudalism. There is no consensus on the precise definition nor on how the term should be used as a historical category...
. He signed three public letters criticizing the communist government: the Letter of 34 in 1964 and Letter of 59
Letter of 59
The Letter of 59 was an open letter signed by 66 Polish intellectuals who protested against the changes of the Constitution of the People's Republic of Poland that were made by the communist party of Poland in 1975...
and Letter of 14 in 1976. In 1977 he was finally expelled from the Polish communist party (PZPR).
In the spring of 1976 Lipinski sent an open letter to then Polish Communist Party head Edward Gierek
Edward Gierek
Edward Gierek was a Polish communist politician.He was born in Porąbka, outside of Sosnowiec. He lost his father to a mining accident in a pit at the age of four. His mother married again and emigrated to northern France, where he was raised. He joined the French Communist Party in 1931 and was...
roundly criticizing the drastic price increase on foodstuffs that Gierek imposed in an attempt to balance Poland’s import based economy that relied heavily on western loans that it had difficulty paying back by the mid seventies. Gierek, who succeeded Władysław Gomułka, came to power by promising to improve the quality of life of the Polish worker by raising wages and stabilizing prices. In his letter Lipinski affirms that “socialism cannot be decreed. It is and may only be born of the free actions of free people” and pledges that “the movement of revival shall gain in strength, and that the recently intensifying repression will not contain it much longer…” Lipinski’s letter came shortly after massive strikes near Warsaw
Warsaw
Warsaw is the capital and largest city of Poland. It is located on the Vistula River, roughly from the Baltic Sea and from the Carpathian Mountains. Its population in 2010 was estimated at 1,716,855 residents with a greater metropolitan area of 2,631,902 residents, making Warsaw the 10th most...
which were a precursor to the strikes at Gdansk
Gdansk
Gdańsk is a Polish city on the Baltic coast, at the centre of the country's fourth-largest metropolitan area.The city lies on the southern edge of Gdańsk Bay , in a conurbation with the city of Gdynia, spa town of Sopot, and suburban communities, which together form a metropolitan area called the...
in 1980 that forced the Polish government to recognize independent trade unions. The Gdansk Agreement
Gdansk Agreement
The Gdańsk Agreement was an accord reached as a direct result of the strikes that took place in Gdańsk, Poland...
, as it came to be known, was made possible by the successful cooperation of workers and intellectuals.
The letter also coincided with the formation of the Worker’s Defense Committee. Also known as the KOR, this aid group founded by Edward Lipinski, Stanisław Barańczak, Jacek Bocheński, Jan Józef Lipski
Jan Józef Lipski
Jan Józef Lipski was a Polish critic and literature historian, socialist politician, and notable Freemason . As a soldier of the Home Army , he fought in the Warsaw Uprising...
and others that gave assistance to protestors and dissidents jailed after the widespread workers’ strikes that resulted from Gierek’s price hikes. The support of Lipinski and other intellectuals for these striking workers’ proved to be a catalyst for forcing Gierek to withdraw the increases. The assistance provided by the KOR and the continual activities of its members helped make the Gdansk agreement possible. On September 23, 1981 Lipinski gave a speech to Solidarity's first national congress disbanding the KOR. He heralded the arrival of Solidarity as a political force saying, the "KOR has recognized that its work has ended, and that other forces have arrived on a much more powerful scale. But the task of fighting for an independent Poland, for human and civil rights, is a fight that still must go on."
Works
Lipinski is the author of nearly 200 books and essays on subjects ranging from the theory of economic fluctuations, a subject upon which he wielded a great influence, to industrial performance, prices and planning, market structures, and in his early career social issues. A great deal of his scholarships is dedicated to socio-economic research. Never relying solely on mathematical models and theory alone to predict and explain economical phenomenon, Lipinski is known for the emphasis on human creativity and spontaneity he placed on economic theorizing. In his seminal Karl Marx and Problems of Our Time, he posits that economics are a “complex social phenomena” and he draws on sociology and psychology to explain trends as much as he does mathematics.Selected bibliography of texts available in English:
- Studies in the History of Polish Economic Thought (1956)
- Karl Marx and the Problems of Our Time (1969)
- Development of Agriculture and Industry (1955)
Career
- Member Polish Socialist Party (1906-1975)
- President Bank of Economical Developments
- Minister of the Statistical Office
- Chair of Economics, Higher Academy of International Trade (1930-retirement)
- Chair of Economics, Warsaw University (post World War II)
- Founder and Head of the Institute of Trade Cycles and Prices (1928)
- Director of the Institute of National Economy (1956)
- Editor of The Economist (1928-1978)
- President of Polish Academy of Economists
- Founding member of Komitet Obrony Robotników (Worker’s Defense Committee, KOR) (1976)
- Solidarity advisor (1981)