UE Forum 42

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middle income families (not
low income families). Assistance
can be given not only
as financial aid, but also by
offering children access to
extra-curricular activities
(like sports) and free course
books or providing them
with healthy food at school.
A lot of these solutions have
already been implemented,
they should be continued
and developed further. It is
easy to give money to families,
but how can we ensure
it is spent for the benefit
of children? Let me quote
St. Thomas Aquinas, who
said that the share that God
gave to us was not equal,
but it was fair (in the earthly
dimension), so I would like
to remind politicians that
the literal understanding of
equality and egalitarianism is
in direct opposition to social
fairness. Egalitarian populist
distribution is counterproductive.
The solution that I can
see is the family-oriented
taxation system, which would
ensure that tax would be
calculated based not on parents’
income, but on income
per family member, including
children, of course. We do
need a system supporting
poorer families, relying on
efficient social services and
non-governmental organisations.
The slogan proposing
absolute equality is a propaganda
trick and will never
yield an effective solution to
the problem.
We should also strive
towards changing a weak
labour market, full of people
employed based on civil law
contracts, implement measures
to boost work activity,
improve the ineffective and
insufficiently pro-growth
taxation system and transform
the economic model
based on low labour costs
– pay growth dynamics are
much lower that employee
productivity dynamics in
Poland. Obviously, these are
only selected measures that
are necessary in order to
gradually free our country
from a middle income trap.
MB: Finally, Professor, what
challenges would you like to
pursue now?
I am “programmed” towards
the future – assuming I will
remain in good health – because
of the institutional
involvement in the Polish
Academy of Sciences and
the Polish Economic Society,
where I am Vice President,
and due to the initiatives
pursued in non-governmental
and business-related organisations.
I’m also running a research
project on sustainable
development financed by the
National Science Centre. It
has an empirical and theoretical
dimension and deals with
the institutional equilibrium
between formal and informal
institutions. Such equilibrium
is particularly important for
the practical implementation
of sustainable development.
Informal institutions represent
all the things we talked about
in the interview: systems of
values, behaviour patterns,
mental models, social trust.
Sustainable development
requires such metanoia. In
empirical terms, we want to
build a system of measuring
and monitoring tools in cooperation
with, for example, IT
specialist, in order to develop
a suitable set of instruments.
The plan is ambitious. I also
intend to seek employment,
but I don’t want to talk about
the details yet. Still, I’m
hesitating, as I have enough
ideas to write a few books
and some research papers.
Right now, I’m considering my
options, waiting to make the
final choice. I believe Providence
will protect me and
help me make the decision
that will be right for me, my
family, and my immediate and
wider circle where – to use
the phrase coined by a prominent
contemporary sociologist,
Mark Granovetter – I am
socially rooted.
Marek Kiczka
Aleja Dębów Doktorów
Honoris Causa
7 października ubiegłego
roku, bezpośrednio
po uroczystej inauguracji
roku akademickiego
i nadaniu prof.
Bogusławowi Fiedorowi
godności doktora honoris
causa Uniwersytetu
Ekonomicznego
w Katowicach, otwarto
Aleję Dębów Doktorów
Honoris Causa. Zlokalizowana
przy budynkach
D i F aleja powstała
w ramach projektu
„UniEKO”.
Informacje o Alei Dębów Doktorów
Honoris Causa znalazły
się na pylonie informacyjnym
umiejscowionym przy ul. Bogucickiej,
bezpośrednio przed podejściem
do budynku Centrum
Nowoczesnych Technologii
Informatycznych. Znaleźć tam
można wykaz doktorów honoris
causa wraz z latami, kiedy
nadano im ten zaszczytny
tytuł, oraz plan kampusu i alei,
a także całej ścieżki drzew
polskich „UniEKO”. Widnieją
tam również opis botaniczny
oraz grafiki przedstawiające
morfologię dębu szypułkowego,
który został wybrany do
utworzenia alei ze względu na
zakorzenioną w świadomości
Polaków szlachetność gatunku
oraz jego długowieczność.
The Alley of Oaks
of Honorary
Doctorate Holders
On 7 October 2015,
following the inauguration
ceremony of the
new academic year and
the conferment of the
honorary doctorate
degree on Prof. Bogusław
Fiedor, the Alley
of Oaks of Honorary
Doctorate Holders was
officially opened. Located
in the vicinity of
Buildings D and F, the
alley was created as
part of the “UniEKO”
project.
The information about the
alley of oaks of honorary
doctorate holders is presented
on the pylon located in ul.
Bogucicka, directly next to the
passage to the Advanced Information
Technology Centre.
It comprises the list of all the
honorary doctorates and the
years of their conferment, the
map of the campus, the alley
and the entire “UniEKO” path
of Polish trees. It also contains