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Below find my comment to readers that will appear in Monday's edition of Warsaw Business Journal. We felt it was appropriate to place it here, on the blog, before WBJ went to press.
Dear readers,
It is rare that I take the opportunity as editor-in-chief to address you directly. As a newspaper, we like to keep to the standard Western newspaper profile, with simple news and opinion sections, and no weekly comment from the editor, which many weekly magazines have.
This week we break from that tradition for a very important reason – a missing little girl. Six-month-old Magda was kidnapped on Tuesday, and so far no trace of her has been found.
Some might ask why we, a business newspaper, would carry this story at all, much less place it in one of our most important sections (see this story, an edited version of "In the Spotlight" in next week's edition), as well as deviate from our standard opinion-page format. Unlike our usual coverage of politics, current events or economics, this story can in no way be construed to have any relevance to business, our main area of interest.
But we also have a very clear sense of community. Poland is our home as well, and the citizens who live and work here are members of a society to whom we feel a sense of responsibility. We cannot shirk this responsibility, with the resources we have at hand, to tell this story in the hopes that we may be able to contribute to bringing this saga to a happy end.
Therefore, not only are we devoting two pieces in this week's paper to Magda and her story, but we will also be following this story closely on our website and in future issues.
There may be those who will accuse me – as a father of two children under three years of age – of emotional attachment to this story. I plead guilty. Magda's story has touched me, as it has touched many in Poland. But as a journalist covering this community, I see nothing wrong with emotional attachment to that community, as long as we hold to our honest coverage of the news. In covering Magda's plight, I see no way in which we have deviated from that mission.
We therefore include a picture of Magda here. She is six months old, and according to the police she is between 60-70 cm (23-28 inches) in height, with olive eyes and short, dark-brown hair. Her front bottom tooth has just erupted.
She was last seen at 6 pm last Tuesday in Sosnowiec, in Poland's southwestern Silesia voivodship. She was wearing a pink hat with a white triangle in the front, a beige plush jacket-and-pants set with a zipper and white gloves. She was in a pink blanket and holding a multicolored teddy bear.
Police say that anyone who may have information regarding Magda's whereabouts should call the Sosnowiec Police at +48 (32) 296-1255, or the nearest police unit. In Poland, these can be reached by simply dialing 997.
As WBJ went to press there was already a reward of zł.130,000 (€30,000, $40,000, £25,000) being offered for information that leads to Magda.
We understand that among our readership there is little chance that someone may have such information. But there is a chance – and we know that it can't hurt to spread the word.
As we go to press on Friday evening, we also know that there is a chance that Magda could be found before we even reach our readers on Monday. We can only hope that will be the case.
In the meantime, as long as she has not been found, we must do what we can to help bring her home. Our sense of community and morality demands it.
Magda
Hair: dark brown
Eyes: olive green
Height: 60-70 cm
Clothes: pink hat, beige two-piece plush suit, pink blanket
Last seen: around 6 pm, January 24, 2012, Sosnowiec
Distinguishing features: one bottom front tooth
Those with information should call: +48 (32) 296-1255
For more information, including more photographs of baby Magda, please visit the website of the Katowice police (in Polish).
As we continue our coverage of the European sovereign debt crisis, the focus has once again turned to credit agencies (see
today's story, more in next week's
WBJ). Again, European leaders are calling for a “European” rating agency that would be more “credible” and “transparent” than the current Big Three (Moody's, Fitch and S&P).
These leaders seem to be forgetting that a ratings agency created by European governments with the not-so-express purpose of being kinder on European governments in its ratings would by definition be less credible, and that a European-based ratings agency already exists (Fitch is dual-headquartered in New York and London, and its parent company, FIMALAC, is headquartered in Paris).
But besides all that, these calls seem to miss the point that what Europe needs to be doing is creating a streamlined, effective decision-making mechanism that would allow the EU to react quickly to crises. That would go much further towards increasing confidence and credibility in European structures than would an artificially created ratings agency.
Indeed, Adam Narczewski, a Polish economist who is managing director of XTB Hungary, thinks that the existing ratings agencies have lost much of their credibility themselves, and predicts that one created by Europe would spur a kind of “race to the bottom.” His preferred solution? A single, state-sponsored global ratings agency. He admits it's a “utopian” solution, but posits that the era of privately run ratings agencies – which may be inclined to give positive ratings to those companies that pay their bills – has run its course. It's an interesting perspective, at the very least.
Here's what he had to say, in full:
The importance and reputation of the main rating agencies have diminished as they are responsible for some bad calls made in the last 2-3 years. The market itself proved what it thinks of their decisions (see how cutting the USA’s rating caused its bond yields to decrease, ignoring France and EFSF’s rating cut).
Creating new, 'European' rating agencies might only worsen the situation, allowing more institutions to rate debt. If that happens, I see 'Europe' and the 'US' competing with each other to prove which one is worse (not better, that is the difference) but this could be an ugly fight. The more rating agencies, the less deciding power they have, but at the same time they can cause more confusion with their decisions.
I agree that credit rating cannot be done in the current form, changes need to be made. It seems the idea of privately owned rating agencies has been exhausted. I see a solution (a utopian one) in a global, independent, rating agency, government/state-sponsored, with the best analysts rating credit. If more agencies enter the market, the more inclined they would be to rate better the credit they are paid to rate.
Are we in for a revolution in the global credit ratings system? That's unlikely. But as these agencies continue to undercut efforts to shore up Europe's sovereign debt system, it's hard to see the status quo remain in place for much longer.
By far the most interesting result from
yesterday's election is the strong showing of Palikot's Movement, a
party that exists more or less solely as a result of the willpower
and character of its founding member, Janusz Palikot.
Mr Palikot is a former Civic Platform
(PO) MP, and a troublemaker. He is most (in)famously remembered for
waving around a pistol and a dildo at a press conference a few years
ago. After several controversial statements following the Smolensk
disaster – including that the late President Lech Kaczyński may
have been under the influence of alcohol during the ill-fated flight
– Mr Palikot left PO to form his own party.
Up until a couple of weeks ago, Mr
Palikot, a businessman from the eastern Polish city of Lublin who
made his money in the vodka business, had become an afterthought. It
was generally accepted that he would never be able to make it into
parliament.
Youth turns to Palikot
Well, never say never in Polish
politics. It turns out that Poland's disaffected youth – who formed
a vital block of voters for PO in the 2007 elections – felt that
Civic Platform hadn't made good on their promise to increase
opportunity. Even youths who have managed to get jobs (youth
unemployment makes up half of Poland's overall unemployment), are
still struggling to obtain (much less pay) mortgages and support
their families on an average salary of zł.3,600. They are rightly
dissatisfied that for Master's degree-level graduates who speak one
or two foreign languages, salaries still remain so low. Not liking
any of the other alternatives, Poland's young voters cast their
ballots for Mr Palikot.
Palikot's Movement (RP) speaks the
language of Polish youths. The party favors legalizing soft drugs,
abortion on demand and gay civil unions. Mr Palikot himself is
vehemently anti-clerical, and his party proposes taxing the Catholic
Church and eliminating its role in any state ceremonies, as well as
doing away with religion lessons in school.
Business friendly
Interestingly, the party's economic
policies are ones that the business community could get behind. RP
proposes a flat-tax of 18 percent for corporate income tax, personal
income tax and VAT. It wants to reduce government by liquidating the
entire Ministry of Economy, and also proposes eliminating the Senate
altogether, while reducing the number of members of the lower house
of Parliament, the Sejm, from 460 to 360.
But exactly how much of any of this the
party will be able to achieve is questionable. Mr Palikot's former
colleagues in Civic Platform will be more than happy to shut him out
of government, favoring to continue their coalition with the Polish
People's Party. RP's members are either complete unknowns or have
little experience on the political scene, or both – it's unclear
whether they will be able to make any impact at all.
Legislatively, that is. Because as sure
as they are to be shut out of law-making, any party run by Mr Palikot
is certain to make a big media splash. The next four years will
therefore be interesting from that point of view at least – be
ready for some expert showmanship and plenty of controversial
commentary.
The gamble paid off
Instead of marking his political death,
Mr Palikot's resignation from Civic Platform may have catapulted his
career forward. He gambled and won. But the proof in the pudding will
not be whether he gains the spotlight (he will), but rather whether
he can actually influence how Poland is governed.
Today, WBJ says goodbye to one of the most important members of its team. E. Blake Berry, deputy editor of Warsaw Business Journal since 2007, officially ends his work with the paper today to pursue his career elsewhere.
Blake has been essential in WBJ's development over the past four years. He has been the main writer and copy editor, and has served as editor-in-chief for our Investing in Poland annual business guides since we launched them in late 2009.
If you enjoy reading Warsaw Business Journal, rest assured that it is largely due to Blake's tremendous work over the years. He has written on virtually every topic we cover, from the Warsaw Stock Exchange to Poland's political scene, from Polish video games to real estate. His opinion pieces are some of the best – and most intelligently written – that we have published. His fastidiousness is unmatched.
Along with all this, Blake ran the production of the newspaper on a day-to-day basis, making sure stories were assigned and that the copy was in on deadline. He would push journalists hard to make their writing sharper and clearer, and I'm confident that every reporter and editor to have worked here with Blake is now better for it. I certainly am.
I could go on with the superlatives, but in the end his work, visible in every issue of WBJ over the past four years, speaks for itself.
We are certainly sorry to see him go – he will leave big shoes to fill. But greater achievements call, and we wish him the best, safe in the knowledge that Warsaw Business Journal is in a prime position to move forward into the future, thanks to the tireless efforts of this top-notch editor.
What readers find interesting is often surprising. The editorial board of this newspaper got to work last Monday with the expectation that the IPO of the Warsaw Stock Exchange – a symbolic debut that symbolized the coming of age of Poland's economy after communism – would be the most widely read story of the week.
We were dead wrong.
Now, we cater to an international readership, and it may be that international readers are less interested in history-making stock debuts than we thought, but nothing prepared us for the huge number of hits our story on the completion of the huge statue of Jesus in Świebodin got last week. It was by far our most popular story.
The story certainly had legs. It had been around for weeks as the statue neared completion and we had shied away from reporting it, because there was little news and little to interest our readers (or so we thought). We felt its final completion was worth a story though, and were genuinely surprised that it garnered so much interest.
There is, of course, a certain element of humor that can be found in the story. Even American satirist Stephen Colbert, as is often his modus operandi, found a way to both mock the statue and his own country at the same time. (
link here)
As the story made its way around the social networking sites, the reaction of Poles to those who posted it on their Facebook pages was interesting.
“Welcome to Poland. There's nothing f&#@ing else to do,” went one comment. “I'm ashamed of this. What a stupid idea,” went another.
These were reactions that were fairly common, at least here in Warsaw amongst this newspaper's readership, contacts and colleagues. Urban, well-educated Poles mostly found the statue embarrassing.
The reaction is fairly common with certain news stories – especially religiously tinged ones. We heard a lot of it this summer during the argle-bargle over the cross in front of the Presidential Palace.
But it is this editor's opinion that Poles have nothing to be embarrassed about. Certainly this story does attract a certain amount of attention (as evidenced by Colbert, et al.), but such stories are common and short-lived. Every country has its quirks, and Poland is no exception. One can question the usefulness of the statue (will it really draw the number of tourists the city hopes to draw?) or its mission (how many hungry mouths could have been fed with the €1 million needed to build it?), but that it says anything about Poland as a whole is a stretch.
Sure, building a giant Jesus in a small Polish town might be seen as eccentric. But from all of the positive stories also in the international media (like the successful IPO of the Warsaw Stock Exchange, or the opening of the Copernicus Science Centre), there is plenty out there for Poles to be proud of.
