How Poland went from post-Communist wreck to one of the world's 20 biggest economies

A generation ago, Poland rationed sugar and flour while its citizens were paid one-tenth what West Germans earned. It’s a historic leap from the post-Communist ruins of 1989-90 to today's European growth champion that economists say has lessons on how to bring prosperity to ordinary people — and that the Trump administration says should be recognized by Poland's presence at a summit of the Group of 20 leading economies later this year. The transformation is reflected in people like Joanna Kowalska, an engineer from Poznan, a town of half a million people midway between Berlin and Warsaw.