Law to make the budget more shadowy in Poland, shift in mainstream coverage of Ukraine

“On the Barricades” s05e57

This is the second installment of our weekly release of “On the Barricades.” In this episode we discuss some news from Poland of what could become a landmark in government fiscal irresponsibility, corruption, and lack of transparency– already at a time of deep crisis and inflation. A bill was pushed through the lower chamber of parliament to a) remove parliamentary barriers to circulation of money outside of budget (“extra-budget” funds), and b) allow government officials to transfer budget funds to extra-budget funds. This represents a move to further protect what is effectively a parallel economic system, in the shadows of legality, from which the state officials can spend freely.

Hosts Maria Cernat and Boyan Stanislavski also discuss a shift of tone in the mainstream press regarding the war in Ukraine in the last week or so. Why has the New York Times published an article authenticating a Russian story about the shooting of Russian soldiers by Ukrainian forces? Maria weighs in with a perspective from critical media theory.

03:00 Context: fiscal irresponsibility in Poland
07:00 Details on the law pushed through
9:15 Another law bringing private banks into the equation, to take on debt of these extra-budget funds
11:20 Massive public debt in Poland, costs of servicing it, lack of transparency
21:21: What’s the danger? Is Poland a mafia state?
30:05 Dangers to the legal system
33:40 NYT article validating a Russian claim– what does it mean?
44:00 Lack of preparation of journalists for critical reporting and analysis*

Article mentioned: https://multipolarista.substack.com/p/ap-fake-news-us-spy-russia-poland?utm_source=post-email-title&publication_id=457596&post_id=86797934&isFreemail=true&utm_medium=email