Investing in youth means investing in the future
RECENTLY we celebrated one of the year’s most upbeat festivals, vappu or May Day. May Day is traditionally a celebration of work. In Finland it is also a student celebration. Work and education are indeed things worth celebrating. The welfare society is founded on an equality of opportunities. In global comparison, quality education is available to everyone in Finland. Free education and welfare services are paid for by people’s work. The welfare society has been built on work from the very beginning. Nor will Finland be successful in the coming years without commitment to hard work.
Let’s meet at the middle ground!
The question of employment-based migrants and asylum seekers living in Finland is highly charged. On the one side, immigrants are taken as a danger to Finnish economy and even culture. On the other, views questioning the success of immigration policy are condemned as hate speech. Regarding social media especially, it feels like there is no middle ground. The extremists on both critical and liberal sides have taken over the debate. One cannot throw in one’s thoughts without being verbally attacked. Even more, the fear of being counted among the “haters” or the “lovers” leads to an absence of truly constructive solutions to immigration.
The land of a thousand opportunities
FINLAND’S primary economic goal for the coming years is to retain our triple-A credit rating. Achieving this goal requires that we achieve three intermediate goals: the national balance of trade has to be brought up to surplus level, people need to be motivated to stay in work longer, and the State deficit has to be got under control.
Losing the AAA credit rating would mean higher interest rates on state loans, and higher interest rates for Finnish companies and citizens alike. The state would be left with even less money at its disposal for funding public services. Higher interest rates would weaken the viability of business efforts, and would provide a strong disincentive to investments. Private persons would be left with less disposable income for consumption, which would further harm the economy.
Hard but responsible decisions
A few weeks ago Jyrki Katainen’s government set the Finnish economy on the right course. The financial troubles in the European economic area are far from being over. Since Finland is an export-oriented economy, Europe’s situation has a strong impact on our national economy. That is why we have to keep our national economy as stable and as healthy as possible. Only a strong and determined economic policy can assure that our central government debt stays within controllable limits.
China inspires
A week in Beijing and Shanghai got me excited. I led the Parliament’s Finance Committee’s Labour and Commercial Affairs Subcommittee’s delegation to strengthen Finland and China’s cooperative relations. The trip was useful, informative and fruitful in every way. The inspiring attitude of Chinese politicians and business leaders about the future and their determination to fulfil goals in record time made a big impression.
The time is right for marriage equality
AMIDST the economic crisis and pressing environmental challenges, we are in desperate need of good news. Here is one: many countries are rapidly tearing down barriers to equality.
Ten countries, and eight states in the United States, have already ceased to discriminate against couples based on the gender of the spouse. This brings the global number of people living in legislatures with marriage equality to a quarter of a billion.
Wild and fascinating wolves
Among Finland’s four large predator species – wolf, bear, wolverine and lynx – the wolf is certainly the one that evokes the most emotions in people. Wolves are regarded with both fear and admiring respect. Wolves have always been a subject of debate for Finns. Unfortunately, the way wolves are portrayed in stories and myths has done little to allay people’s fear of them.
This fear has led to wolves being hunted, and in the late 19th century this drove them to extinction in Finland. However, over the last 100 years, wolf migration from Russia has compensated for this, and there are currently about 150-165 wolves in Finland. Sadly, illegal hunting is relatively common even today, especially in the eastern parts of Finland and in the reindeer herding areas of the north.
Finnish EU Policy one year after ‘big bang’ elections
AFTER last spring’s parliamentary elections there was a lively discussion about its effects on Finnish politics and society. Back then it was commonly assessed that the massive win of the EU-sceptic Finns Party could also damage our international reputation.
MOREOVER, it was thought that, as a result of the “big bang” elections, the Government would change its previously pro-European policy.
Promoting health is a government goal
PROMOTING health involves not only treatment of illnesses, but also various forms of preventative and rehabilitative measures before problems arise or worsen. The Government’s aim is to take into account the promotion of health in all social decision-making, and to incorporate it into all government sectors and ministries.
Promoting public health has a decisive impact on individuals’ quality of life improvements, in addition to having broader positive effects on the national economy and social wellbeing. Investment in health is an investment in the future, with the aid of which it is possible to further many important initiatives, such as reducing the number of disability pensions and the incidence of social exclusion.
Work or handouts?
THE ALIENATION of teens and young adults is a genuine problem in this country. According to a study carried out by the pro-business think tank EVA, in 2010 around 51,300 people in Finland between the ages of 15 and 29 were classified as socially excluded. This is around five per cent of all Finns in this age bracket. After deducting from that figure all those who are registered jobseekers, we are left with 32,500 young adults who simply do not show up on any official statistics. They have no further education or training beyond secondary level, and nobody really knows who they are or what they do.
