Along with the new year comes higher compensation, writes Gazeta Wyborcza.

Press reviewed by Alicja Baczyńska

Gazeta Wyborcza gleefully predicts that the reform of the country’s personal tax system will leave Poles with more money in their pockets. Everyone will benefit from lowering the top tax bracket to 32 percent: shop assistants, medical doctors, teachers, civil servants, writes the daily. They will gain from several to several thousand zlotys on a monthly basis, depending on their salary. Experts, however, are divided whether this change will be beneficial for the economy, with optimists claiming the reform may boost demand and thus counter the crisis. Those more pessimistic, however, claim the economic downturn may prompt people to save money for a rainy day rather than spend it all. The Polska daily, makes a grimmer forecast, predicting the unemployment rate to reach 14 percent, and economic growth to slump from 1 to 2 percent.

PM Donald Tusk is not deterred by the forecast gloom and doom of the upcoming year. The economic slowdown, higher unemployment rate, and a projected budget shortfall of several billion zlotys can all be coped with, as the ruling government has already proven that it is capable of resolving difficult issues with strong and determined action, Mr. Tusk has said in an interview for Dziennik. Building infrastructure, the construction of local stadiums across the country, along with the rescue of hospitals one by one, are the biggest goals he wants to accomplish and be remembered by in 2009.

An increasing number of Poles are willing to try out homemade fireworks, writes daily Polska. The Internet is filled with amateur how-to movies with instructions on how to make them with, say, a matchbox, Scotch tape, nitrate, sugar and a garbage bag. Such websites get several thousand hits a day. People are not aware of the consequences of mishandling fireworks, and may light them up under the influence of alcohol, or better yet, give them to children play with. And so the fun and frolic may quickly end up in burns, eye injuries, loss of fingers and hands. A person charged with illegal possession of explosives may face a two-year sentence, but this does not include youngsters, the biggest enthusiasts of homemade fireworks, writes the daily.

A New Year’s Eve without champagne, fireworks and dance, simply won’t do, shows a survey published by Rzeczpospolita. For 13 percent of the respondents, celebrating without TV won’t cut it either. According to social psychologist, cited by the paper, this can be accounted for by the fact that television holds a special place in the hearts and minds of Poles. Seventy-one percent of Poles will do the countdown to 2009 among friends, family and with partners. These are the figures concerning the average Pole, but also reflect the preferences of politicians from left and right, but what about the glitterati? This year, as always many performers will grace the stages at events across the country. This may mean combining work with pleasure, but not to everyone. Take the famous Polish rock band Budka Suflera, which performed at a New Year’s Eve open-air party in Krakow last year. The lead singer has said he does not intend to repeat the feat ever again, as he’d rather spend the evening with his close ones. And as for New Year resolutions, only 23 percent are determined to make a change or two in their lives. This mainly involves people in their twenties or younger, as older generations know how hard it is to stay the course, and have often failed to do so in the past, writes the paper.