Poland reflects on Communism's fall
Twenty years ago, Poland's communist government did something without precedent - it sat down with the banned Solidarity trade union to try to defuse growing social unrest. What became known as the Round Table Talks led to the first multi-party elections in the Soviet bloc and a stunning victory by Solidarity, led by Lech Walesa, which heralded the collapse of communism across the eastern half of Europe.
The global slowdown has dented the credibility of capitalism, and not just in Poland. So does Leszek Balcerowicz, who as deputy prime minister engineered the country's rapid transition to the free market 20 years ago, fear the state will now claw back some economic power? "I don't think so, I think the memory's not so short as to be afraid of such a catastrophe," he says. What Mr Balcerowicz, now an internationally respected economist, does fear is what he calls "creeping statism, which isn't as dramatic like communism - but may be quite destructive for the longer-term future".
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