Przerosty etatyzmu

Overgrowth of statism  Polish economic thought in the interwar period is characterised by the clash of views concerning the in­fluence of the state on the economy. Theoreticians who represented liberalism criticised statism and state interventionism. Statism was viewed not only as an economic category but it was also synonymous with the omnipotence of the state and the appropriation of all the spheres of life. Statism involves the expression  of the expansion of collectivism which destroyed individualism. From the liberals’ perspective, the state’s  intervention in the economy always leads to the appropriation of other spheres of life. The studies carried out by the liberals in the 1920s and 1930s were based on empirical research and the rational justifications of economic calculations. Scholarly studies of the theoreticians affiliated to “the Cracow School” have not lost their relevance and can still be inspiring in the context of the discussion about the level of the state’s intervention in social collective and individual life.