Road hog wanted!

Woke up last Sunday, turned on the TV and beheld the film below on TVN24 morning broadcast.

Shot three days earlier on the streets of Warsaw and subsequently passed around online, the film showing thoughtless and direly dangerous feats of a young driver has become one of most often watched Polish films in the Internet last week. Media coverage has given the 24-year-old driver of BMW M3 who had showed off his driving skills a lot of publicity, probably something the guy craved for.

During his rally the idiot driver broke traffic rules several times and caused several seriously dangerous situations, putting lives of many innocent road users at peril. Oddly enough, his driving skills proved good enough to avoid accidents many times, however given his style of driving, the fact no one was killed by him could be only put down to luck, rather than to his mastery behind the wheel. I actually cannot deny him skills, as they were essential in not injuring anyone during his lunatic rally, which by no means can be construed as commendation for his misdemeanour.

The road hog is now the most wanted man in the country, however police fails to detain him. The reasons are two: there is no evidence the suspect Robert N., nickname Frog, sat indeed behind the wheel when the crazy rally was shot, moreover the film does not provide grounds there was any situation that could have led to a traffic disaster, hence for over a week the driver has been unpunished and the police could only kindly ask him to report to the nearest police station. He refused to do so, instead he sent in his barrister, who made a statement any attempt to induce her client to come to the police voluntarily is a provocation meant to catch him.

How let’s wonder who the hell this guy is. He is just 24 and already can afford to drive around in expensive sports cars and to hire a lawyer. He does have a job, but people aged 24 usually do not earn that much money and even if they happen to do so, and are not celebrities, they toil away so hard that they lack time to indulge in such dicey sort of entertainment. The boy most probably is a rowdy, spoilt son of a rich daddy. Daddy buys him cars, pays for all his whims and, if necessary, will get him out of troubles. And the boy feels he can go unpunished and derides at the weakness of the Polish legal system, helpless faced with an overt criminal…

Given the records which leaked yesterday and will be in detail described in tomorrow’s edition of one of the reputable weeklies, the helplessness of the Polish state should not surprise us. If the minister of internal affairs claims the Polish state exists only theoretically, jaw drops open immediately. It fails to impress me a representative of the messed up ruling party tries to strike a political deal, but when does the governor of the central bank, theoretically independent entity, eagerly engages in a conservation about essentially breaking the law, I get a little confused. According to article 220, paragraph 2 of the Polish constitution, the central bank is prohibited from financing the budget deficit. The rule that central banks do not engage in fiscal policies nor regulate cost of borrowing for governments is the thing of the past in the most advanced economies – may policies of ECB or Bank of England serve as examples.

The wiretapped conversation casts new light on recent announcements of plausible interest rate cuts in Poland. Lower central bank rates translate into lower cost of debt for the government. However, central banks should target price level, exchange rate and economic growth, not liase with the government. I was kind of shocked professor Belka, current governor of the National Bank of Poland would stoop so low. The proposal to further cut interest rates, bearing in mind the recovery will sooner or later give rise to higher inflation, is at best unwise.

I am looking forward to seeing how the story unfolds. Unfortunately, I will be offline holidaying abroad and keeping track of topical issues will be impossible. Nevertheless, I doubt the eavesdropped dealings in a restaurant would turn the Polish politics upside down. I doubt Mr Belka loses his stool, dismissal of Mr Sienkiewicz, minister of internal affairs, seems conceivable. Then the dust will settle and everyone will live happily ever after, until the next election. Until the next time when there is no one who would deserve your vote.

Next post in two weeks.