Inflation has become a serious problem in the global economy affected by the COVID-19 pandemic and the Russia-Ukraine war, which has limited the supply of energy resources. The article by Professor Zbigniew Polański published in “Ekonomista” (No. 6) in 1987 contains analysis of the concepts of inflation created by Polish economists, primarily in the period of the Polish People’s Republic. They show the specificity of this phenomenon in the centrally planned economy. The surplus of demand over supply as a source of inflation in the economy of shortages deserves special attention at a time when the market mechanism is subject to growing constraints emerging for political reasons as well as due to the depletion of resources.
Introduction
In this paper, I will try to present prevailing trends in the Polish studies on inflation conducted over the last sixty years. These issues are worth considering as the Polish economic thought has developed a number of highly interesting and original concepts of the formation and development of inflation, albeit not thoroughly known and accurately appreciated.
The study is not encyclopedic and does not pretend to present the entirety of research on inflation in the Polish economic literature.Its aim is only to highlight the dominant trends of thought and major theoretical achievements as well as to reveal their limitations.
Primarily, I will perceive inflation as a phenomenon of increase in the general (average) price level. Should inflation be perceived differently, it will be indicated.