Studia z Dziejów Państwa i Prawa Polskiego / Studies in History of Polish State and Law

The article is divided into three sections. In the first section, the author focuses on political
and economic changes in Poland after World War II (including the planned economy),
during which Polish monetary policy was subordinate to the general economic activities
of the government and the chartalist theory of money applied. The second section is centred
around the monetary reform of 1950 was particularly important, as it deprived Polish
citizens of 2/3 of the cash they held. Subsequent monetary reforms concerned changes in
prices, wages, and pensions, the first of which involved basic food products, in particular.
Inflation rose in the late 1980s and early 1990s, which led to the denomination of the Polish
zloty in 1995 and reintroduction of the rebus sic stantibus clause to the Polish civil law
system in 1990. In conclusion, the author focuses primarily on the fact that the socialist
government was curbing inflation by freezing prices of basic consumer goods and limiting pay rises,
and points out that any attempts concerning indexation of prices of goods were
met with social unrest, as it was the case in 1956, 1970, 1976, 1980–1981, and 1988.