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Poles have been emigrating to the West since the 18th century in search of more extensive opportunities for self-fulfillment, which not only creates the prosperity of the local societies, but also, usually, a greater degree of freedom. After Poland's accession to the European Union, those who left chose some of the most economically free countries in Europe and the world - Great Britain, Germany, Ireland and the Netherlands.

The non-financial corporate sector is the heart of the Polish economy, where over 70% of the Polish GDP is generated.  In 2017, a person working in the sector of non-financial enterprises produced goods and services worth PLN 9.7 thousand on average monthly, but their net remuneration amounted to only PLN 3.1 thousand. What happened to the remaining PLN 6.6 thousand?

Paternalistic regulations harm consumers in the first place, leading to higher prices (e.g. through higher taxes), stigmatisation of some consumers, restriction of freedom of choice, inconvenience in shopping (e.g. as a result of limited days and hours of sale), poorer access to information (e.g. as a result of advertising bans) or deterioration in the quality of products.

Recently announced reforms to Poland’s pension system are just the latest in a long line of changes made over the past eight years. Unfortunately, the majority of these have been motivated by short-term goals (either fiscal or political), without looking at the long-term stability of the pension system.

“I remember the Communist propaganda, and this is worse,” said Leszek Balcerowicz, an economist who played a major role in Poland’s transition to capitalism from socialism and who now runs FOR, a foundation focused on civic development. “Every day, they push this message of how successful the government has been, how well the economy is doing. And then you have this huge increase in social spending.”

​The costs of Kaczyński's Five promises accumulate with the costs of previously announced government programmes, forcing tax increases and reductions in other expenditures, primarily on public services. Despite the high costs, the new programmes do not solve any significant problems, and are focused primarily on the electoral effect.

The Ministry of Business and Technology has provided an Impact Assessment of the restriction of trade on Sundays. The ministry does not recommend changes in the model of reaching a full ban, suggesting only a modification of the regulations "in the direction of further strengthening of small Polish stores".

In the latest edition of the Human Freedom Index 2018, which covers the first year of the rule of the Law and Justice party, Poland ranked 39th out of 162 countries with a score of 7.81 points. The deterioration of the personal liberty rate, to a large extent including the level of the rule of law, is responsible for most of this decline.

The Law and Justice (PiS) party’s new election promises of, namely, the “Kaczyński Five”, will cost the Polish public finances PLN 40 billion per year . In addition, the Law and Justice (PiS) party passed a resolution on the increase in a number of expenditures for the following years, mainly on health care and the army. The implementation of the “Kaczyński Five”, similarly to the PiS election promises of 2015, will force the government to relatively reduce expenditures for other purposes, raise taxes, and increase the deficit.

Leszek Balcerowicz's prezentation from his keynote speech during Free Market Road Show 2019 conference in Warsaw.