Edward Lipiński

This article is about the economist. For the orientalist, see Edward Lipiński (orientalist).
Edward Lipiński

Edward Lipiński (October 18, 1888 – July 13, 1986) was a Polish economist, intellectual, social critic and human rights advocate. During the almost seven decades of his career, he held a series of government advisory positions, founded several organizations, published books and essays on economic policy. His works concerned business cycles, growth theory and other areas of economics. Lipiński was a fighter for Polish independence, socialist activist in the Second Polish Republic, opponent of communist rule in the Polish People's Republic.

Life, career and social activism

Lipiński was born at Nowe Miasto, Congress Poland in the Russian Empire. He was briefly jailed in 1906 for protesting Tsarist rule in Poland. Educated in Leipzig from 1909–12, he obtained a doctorate in economics from the University of Zurich prior to World War I. After World War I, in early independent Poland, he participated in the Polish–Soviet War.

He organized and directed the Institute of Prices and Business Cycles in 1928. From 1929, he was professor in the Warsaw School of Economics. He founded the Central Statistical Office and the Polish Economic Association. He also served as president of the Economic Association (1945–65), was editor of the periodical Ekonomista (The Economist), and a member of the Polish Academy of Sciences. Being Poland's foremost economist, Lipiński 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 the antisemitic campaign carried out at institutions of higher learning by Polish nationalistic factions and supported by the Camp of National Unity party, which forced him to resign from his position at the School of Economics. During World War II, Professor Lipiński held underground classes in Nazi-occupied Poland.

After the war, in communist Poland, he was briefly the chair of economics at the University of Warsaw and became one of the economic advisors to the Polish government.

Lipiński, a member of the Polish Socialist Party since 1906, was expelled from the party in 1946 when it merged with the communist Polish Workers' Party to which he was opposed; later, however, he joined the communist Polish United Workers' Party (PZPR).

Throughout his postwar career, he frequently clashed with communist government economists, regarding economic issues such as their reluctance to stray from Karl Marx's dated economic principles. An outspoken critic of Stalinism, Lipinski warned that "over-organization" 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 punished for his criticism when the hard line Stalinist faction of Bolesław Bierut gained power in 1949: he was forced to resign as chair of economics at the university and banned from delivering some of his lectures.

After the Polish October of 1956, Lipiński 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 in 1957.

Lipiński became one of the prominent critics of the government. His position as a known Marxist economist shielded him to certain extent from government persecution and allowed him to say things many others were unable to. Nevertheless, till the very end he remained convinced that some form of socialism is preferable to capitalism. He signed three public letters criticizing the communist government: the Letter of 34 in 1964, the Letter of 59 in 1975 and the Letter of 14 in 1976. In 1977 he was expelled from the PZPR.

In the spring of 1976, Lipiński sent an open letter to First Secretary Edward Gierek of the PZPR, 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. Gierek, who came to power after the overthrow of Władysław Gomułka, promised to improve the quality of life of Polish workers by raising wages and stabilizing prices. In his letter Lipiński wrote "Socialism cannot be decreed. It is and may only be born of free actions of free people" and pledged that "the movement of revival shall gain strength and the recently intensified repression will not contain it for much longer…" Lipinski's letter came at the time of renewal of massive strikes and riots in Poland.

The letter also coincided with the formation of the Workers' Defence Committee, which marked the beginning of successful cooperation of workers and intellectuals. Also known as the KOR, this group founded by Edward Lipiński, Stanisław Barańczak, Jan Józef Lipski and others gave assistance to worker protest participants jailed after the widespread strikes. Lipiński was one of the elder distinguished members of the organization, whose presence added a degree of protection from the authorities. The assistance provided by the KOR and the continual activities of its members helped, after another wave of strikes, make the Gdańsk Agreement of 1980 possible. On 23 September 1981, Lipiński gave a speech to Solidarity independent trade union first national congress, announcing the disbanding of 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

Lipiński is the author of nearly 200 books and essays on subjects ranging from the theory of economic fluctuations, a field 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 work was dedicated to socio-economic research. Never relying solely on mathematical models and theory to predict and explain economical phenomena, Lipiński is known for the emphasis on human creativity and spontaneity. In his seminal Karl Marx and Problems of Our Time, Lipiński posits that economics are a "complex social phenomena" and he draws on sociology and psychology to explain trends, as much as he relies on mathematics.

Selected bibliography of texts available in English:

Memberships and positions held

References

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