The first day of Cracow Summer School was opened by prof. Andrzej Sławiński, reputable polish economist from Warsaw School of Economics and head of the Economics Institute of National Bank of Poland.
The professor spoke about the recent economic crisis, the role of the monetary union, the benefits and weaknesses of the euro zone. One of the most stimulating questions posed by Sławiński was: "Why Warmia and Masuria District remain in a monetary union with the rest of Poland? ".
One of the basic problems of the last decade, emphasized repeatedly by the professor was the ease of commercial banks to grant mortgages. Basically it was allocating huge streams of money (excess savings) flowing for example from Germany to Portugal to "cement" that is mostly housing construction and not the development of economic sectors with high export potential.