Krugman on Poland and the euro

Good piece in the Times about the advantages Poland is deriving from not having adopted the euro (yet):

The floating zloty, which has fallen about 18 percent against the euro since early 2009, acted as a pressure release valve, helping to keep Polish products competitive on world markets and insulating Poland from the effects of the sovereign debt crisis.

Poland has proved itself to be Europe’s most dogged economy during the last two years. It was the only member of the European Union to avoid recession, soldiering on even after a plane crash in April killed much of the political elite, including the president and the central bank governor. No banks needed to be rescued.

You want to think about just how hard it would be to cut wages 18 percent, as opposed to achieving it automatically via depreciation.