Pop go the weasels
@ 7:20 pm (Sorry the article didn’t get all there the first time because of the database hiccups.
Hank W.)
Going once, going twice, gone… and there go the jobs in the paper industry. As the global recession dawns upon us there is going to be more and more “pops” when the weasels take our jobs and run away with the money. And what will the politicians do? Build garden cities. Yes, and meanwhile “Finland needs more workers”… sorry, did someone say “a cheap exploitable labor force”? There is always someone out there desperate enough to be brought in to do the job cheaper.
I always contradict people saying there is a “shortage of nurses”. There is no “shortage of nurses”. There is a “shortage of money and tenures” which results in people not wishing to enter the profession which has created an illusion of a shortage of nurses. Finnish polytechnics churn out about 3000 nurses per year - after 5 years maybe 500 remain in the profession. And why is that? The job is hard, the pay lousy and you have only short-term contracts. So instead of making the profession something people want to do - the answer is to bring in people from someplace where the conditions are if possibly worse and they think they are getting a good deal.
There wouldn’t be all these Finnish nurses working for the NHS in the UK or Norway unless it was the same situation - the Finnish nurses think they get a good deal. While on the one hand economically bringing in foreign nurses is a business decision - we wait 10 years. That nurse has either gone back home after saving enough money for a new house and childrens college, or then the nurse has a family here. She wants a better salary and a continuous job contract, but as the culture of exploitation is there - what is the answer? To bring in some other - cheaper nurse working for peanuts and not complaining of actually having to support a family on those wages. So it continues on and on and on without anyone needing to address the core problems of the system itself.
So I would rather say “Finland needs more jobs” - but theres always the patent answer of creating your own. Oh yes, even back in the days of the big recession of the 1990’s the magical answer was for everyone to put up an enterprise and start selling soap and vitamins. Fixed the statistics greatly but how many people selling soap and vitamins to each other do we need? Does the economy of a village run on everyone selling soap and vitamins to each other? Because the fact is that the production industries are outsourcing and if there is no production there is not much money in the economy after a while. Not that there is a lack of the “enterpreneurial spirit” in Finland. Or would this “make money and become rich” spirit. Now as everyone knows one cannot come rich in Finland with honest work. The welfare state has its hand in your pocket. But as the human animal operates on greed we have now had not only one but two pyramid schemes where someone has gotten the great idea of making a fast buck off peoples greed. The WinCapita system allegedly had 10 000 Finns “invest” hundred million euros into the pyramid… that is quite a mind-boggling sum to think of. Another smaller scheme called GPP has just unraveled selling “pension insurance”… So what does *that* say of the country? We do remember Albania had a revolution in the 1997 due to a pyramid scheme taking all the money out of the system - they were probably high up in the “global competitiveness” figures back then - before the weasels popped the bubble.
It is questionable how far Finland could afford to copy the Nordic Welfare State model with its limited resources in the first place. It has worked so far, but even Sweden has been showing a hiccup… Norway has oil and gas to support their regional policies, but Finland just thinks it has resources. The current political parties - the three largest having equal 21% of the vote at the moment cannot come into consensus of what needs to be done - so everyone does something and the direction… The decisions made back during the big recession of the 1990’s was to “liberalize” the economy have now in 15 years resulted in the liberated industries escaping away. You look at the latest survey on the “hi-tech” Finland and its broadband connections. Even if done by Cisco which has its own interests. The government expects private market forces to take care of the infrastructure - and what is the result? Finland is now in 13th place. Really is this the way to go? We are living interesting times as they say in the Chinese proverb. But Finland isn’t as much alone any more - the rest of the EU is to be considered, but is the direction of the EU any clearer? Surely each country is pulling into its own direction - and is the EU not a giant on clay feet?
So what will Finland be like in 5 or 10 years with the global competition? Weasellandia 2018? Scrapped remains of a welfare state turned into a cut-throat globalized capitalist state with huge income gaps and poverty - a polarized society with ghettos with proles the weasels use as a resource pool of easily exploitable cheap labor that can be popped off when not needed?
The only thing your average Finn can do thinking about this is drink cheap alcohol imported from Estonia and look at how the country is going to hell in a handbasket - and that is my positive outlook of the day.
Cliff Notes: Paha maa
Funy how the union is demanding that the company take care of the employees being let go. That’s the union’s job.
Even in Finland, companies exist to make profit for the owners. The owners here are not making enough or any profit to justify keeping this factory open. The only people who profit when the company is making no profit are the employees through wages and benefits and the State through taxes and a reduced unemployment roll.
Maybe the State or the employees should buy the factory.
Comment by Fred Fry — Sat, Sep 13th, 2008 @ 11:16 pm
http://www.dailymail.co.uk/news/article-1054909/Have-babies-Muslims-UK-hate-fanatic-says-warning-comes-9-11-UK.html
Comment by Anonymous — Sun, Sep 14th, 2008 @ 1:27 am
Hmmm… Phil, where’s the substance in this post? You’ve educated me to expect more.
Comment by Topias — Sun, Sep 14th, 2008 @ 2:23 am
There is another part of this story in that the factory was using mostly Russian timber and the Russians raised the wood tariff making the raw material too expensive. The Government could have done two things to keep the factory open, credit the company for the additional tariff expense via subsidy or credit the company with a tax rebate for the additional expense. Or they could have made available more Finnish forest for raw material.
Comment by Fred Fry — Sun, Sep 14th, 2008 @ 3:45 am
Hank, you’re comparing apples and oranges. Finnish forest industry has nothing to do with the construction industry. That one sector needs less employees and the other sector needs more to the point of being forced to recruit abroad are two unrelated economic activities.
Comment by Martin-Éric — Sun, Sep 14th, 2008 @ 10:58 am
I suppose that the threat to the Swedish-Finnish cultural heritage mentioned by Wallin is the likelihood of more Finnish speakers living close to the bättre folk.
Gotta love our tolerant, multicultural SFP.
Comment by Freeridin' Franklin — Sun, Sep 14th, 2008 @ 11:54 am
Sfp is probably the most pro-immigration party in the government. Last year’s municipality recognised by immigrant groups themselves as the best for relations with immigrants was one controlled entirely by Sfp. In my hometown, Sfp has immigrant candidates standing for the October municipal election. Sfp, alongside the church (principally the Swedish-speaking bishop Björkstrand), led the prominent fight to allow Halide Latifi to stay in the country last year.
It’s not the Swedish-speakers who end up being the intolerant ones in this kind of migration process - it’s generally some of the newer Finnish speakers. Often it’s not intentional, it’s a shear numerical influx out of any proportion that does the job. I doubt it will be the new Finnish-speakers who move to the area that switch their language to access services etc. Have you ever heard of a Finnish-speaker in southern Finland complaining because he or she couldn’t get service in Finnish from a Swedish-speaking person? No. the stories are entirely the other way around. Have you heard of Finnish-speaking people’s lives at risk because when they dial 112, no one remembered to staff it with someone who could speak their language?
Remember, somewhere like Espoo was essentially entirely Swedish-speaking still only 100 years ago (and before the 40s wars, still a substantial majority). Now, as the town celebrates its 550th anniversary (about 500 of those years having taken place with a Swedish-speaking majority and with Swedish-speaking people having been responsible for founding the place and by-and-large being those with the longest ties to the area), they even “forgot” to invite a representative of the Swedish-speaking church parish to one of the main 550 years ceremonies. In the Espoo of 2008, the Swedish-speaking indigenous culture has basically been swept aside and even actively ignored. Is that tolerant and multicultural? Wallin simply is, understandably, concerned that the same will happen elsewhere.
Comment by Jonas G — Sun, Sep 14th, 2008 @ 12:38 pm
#3 I think this version has the quality of rant what you have expected. The database wouldn’t update any more last night so it left the saucy bits out.
Comment by Hank W. — Sun, Sep 14th, 2008 @ 1:43 pm
#1 maybe the state shouldn’t have sold its industries…
Comment by Hank W. — Sun, Sep 14th, 2008 @ 1:53 pm
#9: Well, we should follow the example of the USSRA, the beacon of capitalism in the world. Fannie&Freddie already became Gosbank and it seems that the automotive industry (GM) is next. I wonder if the Volga brand is available.
Comment by Freeridin' Franklin — Sun, Sep 14th, 2008 @ 2:38 pm
#5 Finnish forest industry has nothing to do with the construction industry. That one sector needs less employees and the other sector needs more to the point of being forced to recruit abroad are two unrelated economic activities.
Oh they are. What will the construction workers be constructing and for whom if the production workers are not producing? Finland is becoming one “shopping mall country” where the economy is run by people selling soap and vitamins to each others. We need to start manufacturing soap and vitamins.
Comment by Hank W. — Sun, Sep 14th, 2008 @ 5:19 pm
#11: What are you saying, Hank? The money for construction comes from the bank, of course. Just like electricity comes from the socket.
Comment by Freeridin' Franklin — Sun, Sep 14th, 2008 @ 6:17 pm
And Franklins from the Bureau of Engraving and Printing
Comment by Hank W. — Sun, Sep 14th, 2008 @ 6:56 pm
Just keep the beer cold, I will rescue you real soon. By the way I am in the real Nanny state of the uK, where prices are a real 2-3x the USA. Go figure, I guess you all love your system, high taxes, no WalmART FOR CHEEP stuff.
Now to be fair I did see wine at USA prices, but my favorite “RUM” was 2x the USA.
Can’t wait to see the Finish prices this week?
Comment by winter — Sun, Sep 14th, 2008 @ 10:43 pm
Take a load for free…
And you put the load right on… Winter.
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=712kRqri2No
Gosbank… nice one, FF.
Comment by Anonymous — Mon, Sep 15th, 2008 @ 2:26 am
#14…winter…take my advice…….. when in Finland,be carefull of how much Koskinkorva vodka and Salmiakki you drink……The smokin’ hot blonde Finn babes might steal your freekin’ penis when you are in the sauna!!
Comment by infinndel the jenkki dogg — Mon, Sep 15th, 2008 @ 2:49 am
winter - the UK has carpetted bogs. nuff said
Comment by Hank W. — Mon, Sep 15th, 2008 @ 3:42 am
Hank, with the longer article you meant to publish having finaly made it to the blog, I mostly agree with you.
However, manufacturing vitamins (or anything else, for that matter) is the the solution. Getting rid of this Nanny State that keeps on pretending to be giving the population its tax money’s worth in good and services, but factually fails at it (so, no, this is NOT a Scandinavian welfare state and it hasn’t been for over a decade) is what must be done.
I used to be a regular at this blog but I no longer am and for good reasons: I chose Estonia. There, keeping the state lean and mean is not wishful thinking, it’s a feature people have come to expect and it works and, contrary to what most Finns think, it doesn’t mean a lack of public services; it just means focusing on the delivery of actual services, rather than on hiring a zillion of bureaucrats to push paperwork across a dozen of virastot.
Comment by Martin-Éric — Mon, Sep 15th, 2008 @ 10:42 am
China gets 30% of its GDP from the service sector and the USA gets 70%. I wonder what the figure is for Finland right now, although certainly we can all guess which way it’s heading. Some day soon we’ll read about a PhD working in Hesburger.
I also wonder what the rate of home ownership is for people with full-time permanent positions (such as they are) versus people working määräaikainen, from contract to contract.
Comment by v.i.lenin — Mon, Sep 15th, 2008 @ 11:18 am
Can I afford the “Koskinkorva vodka “????
Comment by winter “Yea, Proton Power, now in remission” — Mon, Sep 15th, 2008 @ 11:36 am
Unless your investments are in Lehmann Brothers bonds…
Comment by Hank W. — Mon, Sep 15th, 2008 @ 2:40 pm
Interesting, Martin-Éric! How are you enjoying the Finnish prices and 1/5 of the income level?
Comment by Freeridin' Franklin — Mon, Sep 15th, 2008 @ 8:18 pm
#21: Wasn’t winnie heavily invested in world stock? We wonder where. RTS maby? There’s cheep vodka after all and it’s getting cheeper as we speek.
Comment by Freeridin' Franklin — Mon, Sep 15th, 2008 @ 9:48 pm
#19: There was a story in HS some while ago about PhD’s working as cleaners etc. I guess I’ll join them soon enough. The whole research funding scheme is going to crash and burn under the lack of grants from trusts etc. (Swedish-style funding) and bloated bureaucracy which sucks up all the state funding.
And I don’t know anyone under 30 years of age with a permanent postition (no chance of a home ownership and any future plans of staying put). I don’t know why the state keeps cramming people into high schools as anyone with a higher education and half a brain will leave Finland eventually with a free diploma in their pocket after all this “streamlining” of research & development in the private and public sector is done.
Comment by Anonymous — Mon, Sep 15th, 2008 @ 11:45 pm
winter…I hope you are going to meet Phil when you are in Finland…I am sure you guys will hit it off good…Toss down some olut and Koski…finish off with shots of salmiakki…you will have a great time…Suomi is a great tourist destination, and you will be impressed by Finland…It is a wonderful country…Make sure you LIE…BIGTIME!
and say you never voted for Dubya BUSH!…and repeat many times how
much you love Finland…then you will enjoy Suomi to the fullest!
Comment by infinndel the jenkki dogg — Tue, Sep 16th, 2008 @ 1:49 am
Oh by the way, here’s the proper way to down a 0.5L bottle like a pro. Ok, it’s that girly Leijona, but the principle is the same:
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=_P1yufd_-z4
30 sailors are optional.
Comment by Freeridin' Franklin — Tue, Sep 16th, 2008 @ 6:51 pm
“invested in world stock?”
yes, 1/3 world, 1/3 new emerging, and 1/3 the old stuff
don’t lose much money, but get rich when times are good.
Comment by winter “Yea, Proton Power, now in remission” — Tue, Sep 16th, 2008 @ 6:54 pm
dogg
I have been to Finland several times, by boat, by air, will try any way that gets me there.
Now get Mother russia to like you…..
Comment by winter “Yea, Proton Power, now in remission” — Tue, Sep 16th, 2008 @ 6:55 pm
#27: Sounds complicated. I thought that the way to get rich was short selling banks.
Comment by Freeridin' Franklin — Tue, Sep 16th, 2008 @ 7:00 pm
No No No…invest over the long term to get rich. If I had known better at 21, I would be retired now. It took until I was 30 to run into a evil republican investor.
Comment by winter “Yea, Proton Power, now in remission” — Tue, Sep 16th, 2008 @ 7:59 pm
Invest in arms manufacturing companies. The more there is poverty the more the rich buy them.
Comment by Hank W. — Wed, Sep 17th, 2008 @ 12:04 pm
I was considering AIG. The US government seems to be trusting it.
Comment by Freeridin' Franklin — Wed, Sep 17th, 2008 @ 8:08 pm
Franklin: it could be a good idea to educate yourself on the sort of salaries that the Estonian banking and hi-tech sectors enjoy.
Comment by Martin-Éric — Mon, Sep 22nd, 2008 @ 11:36 am
#33: Please enlighten me. In particular, please enlighten me about the Estonian hi-tech sector, perhaps mentioning some products.
As for the banking sector, it is best to enjoy the salaries while they last.
Comment by Freeridin' Franklin — Thu, Sep 25th, 2008 @ 7:21 pm
Its a great post and useful also because today everybody want to buy shopping goods online.
Thanks for such an helpful post.
Comment by Laura — Tue, Oct 14th, 2008 @ 2:12 pm