Kek
. I actually have a link to the study they're talking about saved with a note saying, "Delusional anti-Slavpill propaganda" right next to it
.
It's not
entirely impossible, if the current growth rates hold (and my calculations on this subject in my bachelor's thesis are correct) there could be some serious convergence between EE and WE in about 20-30 years, but there's just too much that could happen to derail it.
Would definitely be interesting to watch how the power environment in Europe changes if this actually comes to pass
.
A growing population is a massive advantage, with countries possesing those, on average, definitely going to steamroll the shrinking countries, but it's not strictly necessary for a growing economy. The Baltics were, and still are, demographically fucked for the last couple of decades, with their populations shrinking ever since the USSR's breakup, and they've still grown rapidly despite that, to the point that Estonia is now a start-up superpower with more start-ups per capita than anyone else in the world.
If the Baltics can do it, there's really no fundamental reason to believe that Poland, which is right next to them, can't do the same as well. The question is, whether they will.