29 posts tagged “economy”

From my experience, I would say that in general Finland has a very modern, developed banking system.  I haven't seen a cheque since I moved here (thank the Lord), and you can handle most of your affairs electronically.  Personal service is not as consistent.

In general, over the counter service is pretty friendly and at the bank you also have access to an advisor.  The issue I encountered, however, was when checking with other banks about mortgage options.  Whereas my bank treated me really well, the same was not repeated when checking out with another.  Although I understand perfectly (especially with the current economic climate) why they would be cautious, some of the reactions from the bank representative puzzled me a little bit.

We were discussing our background and when we mentioned that I am also educated her answer was something along the lines of "Really?".  When she asked for my profession she was also rather sceptic, but the one that really made me unease about the whole deal was when she asked for my job title, as she suggested "So, are you an assistant?" which was completely out of line with what I had told her about my professional experience, meaning that basically she didn't believe anything I said, even though all of that is easily cross-referenceable, e.g. my income.

When I mentioned the issue to my mates, they suggested that I shouldn't have spoken Finnish to the person at all even though I'm fluent.  I wonder what kind of prejudices kicked in?

I've read a couple of stories about immigrants and their children starting up their own companies here in Finland, especially in the service sector.  There are two companies whose services I use that are founded by immigrants: my barber (Figaro barbers in the corner of Albertinkatu & Uudenmaankatu, Helsinki) and one of my favourite fast-food places (Habibi Lebanese cuisine in Forum, Helsinki).

Given the simple facts that there are quite many barriers to open a business (capital investment required, cultural, regulatory, etc) I find their belief in their success quite admirable.

I'm just waiting to see when would somebody open a proper Mexican restaurant, as the stuff hereabouts is Tex-Mex.  Maybe I'll have to do it when I retire.  Mole poblano and tacos al pastor anyone?

I don't have a car. I used to, but sold it when I moved to Brussels and when I came back I didn't really see the need for it, since in the Helsinki metro area we tend to have pretty decent public transportation.
it was not a surprise, but definitely a noticeable difference to see that the city of Seattle (as many other cities in the United States) is built around the car, to the extent that you get commuting times in the local news right after the weather report.
No surprise the price of oil has everybody up in arms.

This is a marketing campaign for Kauppalehti, the leading Finnish business daily that brings forward the labour shortage in Finland. The English language version of the online component of the campaign is actually quite bad, whereas the Finnish one has real content in it.  I guess that contrary to what the campaign seems to be about, they didn't care too much about the immigrant / foreign audience after all.

Funnily enough, there was a completely wasted bum/drunk just next to this ad, but I couldn't bring myself to take that picture. I guess it would have been too poignant of a social commentary.

Is worse than in some "third world" countries I know.  I was there the fatidic day of the opening of Heathrow's Terminal 5, but fortunately in another section of the airport so wasn't affected.

However, my Heathrow Express train from Paddington was delayed for almost an hour, as the thing just decided to stop dead in the beginning of the journey (but outside the station).  Since I've already experienced  quite a few problems in the tube during previous trips, I really wonder when (if ever) they will get their act together.  I'm just amazed by the rivers of money flushed down the toilet because of downtime...

I've followed Richard Florida's theories for a few years.  Building upon The Rise of the Creative Class, where he introduced us to his model whereupon a certain group of people whose job relies not only on the consumption of knowledge, but also on the creation of it, and how the world economy is changing, he introduces this book where he expands on the concept and what does it mean for individuals and countries.

The edition I bought starts with his essay The World is Spiky where he critiques The World is Flat, saying that it only looks flat from one peak to the next, but there's plenty of places that haven't yet gotten connected.

Furthermore, the whole idea of the book is simply that the people constituting this creative class are highly mobile and will settle wherever they see fit, therefore having a huge influence in the prosperity of the places they choose.  According to his analysis, this choice is guided by 3 factors: Talent, Tolerance & Technology, and he goes on identifying places in the United States and abroad that are doing all they can to attract and retain their "brains".

Whereas his results for North America seem well founded, he tends to get in a flimsier position when identifying creative class hubs outside of that zone.  He, for example, lumps Helsinki-Tampere-Oulu as an area (which is rather like talking about Brussels, Barcelona and London being in the same neighbourhood). 

There are, however, certain things that leaders in Finland should take to heart, as he mentions explicitly in page 173: "Not all cities are able to compete effectively for global talent.  There are a signficant number... indicating that they are either attracting a very narrow band of immigrants or not attracting many immigrants period.  Cities in this group include... the Scandinavian centers of Helsinki and Oslo.  These places are challenged by their lack of appeal to global talent and will need to improve their diversity and tolerance if they wish to compete at the global cutting edge."

In other words: your educational system is excellent, your use of technology second to none, but the lack of diversity puts a hold on the ideas and points of view you can create here, which is a definite minus in these terms.  As I've mentioned before, there's a lot of foreigners here who work as hard as everybody else here, and not feeling welcome will make them leave, taking their skills with them.  Furthermore, as more and more Finns get to know and appreciate that kind of diversity somewhere else, they will also leave.

For Mexico there is also a lot of lessons to be learned from this book, but I have mostly covered them in another post.  Further moderation of Mexican racist attitudes would also be most welcome.

Pemex, the Mexican oil monopoly, is on dire straits.  The source of around 30% of the government budget, it has issues with the union, the lack of productivity and of technology for deep sea drilling, where the last known reserves are expected to be.  Reform, however, is not an option since the oil industry in Mexico is intimately tied to arcane notions of nationhood.

For an overview of the situation, Bloomberg and Paco Calderón give the basics.

Of course, that's what happens when you treat an industry like the golden calf.

Let's hope that this is only empty rethoric, as the United States would be shooting itself on its own foot, and damaging its relationship with its neighbours to boot.  More information in the Economist.

It is said that Hillary Clinton won Ohio due to her opposition to NAFTA (an initiative that her husband put into force, by the way).  I understand that Ohio has lost quite a few jobs during the last 15 years, but renegotiating free trade is not a solution.

The American consumer on one hand loves low prices, which needless to say are helped by free trade.  On the other side, however, the same person, now as American voter is afraid of the state of the American economy, and would like to protect it as much as possible.

The problem is, however, that the Ohio voter is between a rock and a hard place for one reason: if the United States shuts the door to free trade, many of those employed producing goods for the American market abroad will lose their jobs, and I wouldn't be surprised if they would try to migrate to find a better life.

Therefore, the question is the following: free trade or immigration?

Quisiera compartir con ustedes, apreciados lectores, la conclusión a la que llegué después de escribir mis entradas más recientes sobre México al concluir mi viaje por allá.  Por desgracia, pienso que el país parece que sigue dormido como menciona Oppenheimer en el capítulo de su libro dedicado a México.   Aunque encontré bastante capacidad emprendedora, también me topé con evidencia de que el sistema político y económico está inclinado hacia la parálisis en lugar de las reformas que necesita el país.  Lo más preocupante para mí fue que no noté que la actitud de la población en general haya cambiado mucho, con una mentalidad conformista francamente desalentadora.

Me parece que seguimos esperando algo, pero no sé qué.  Mientras tanto, el resto de los países recientemente industrializados siguen marchando hacia adelante. 

¿Queremos tomar el mando de nuestro propio destino, o no?

As a conclusion to my recent posts on Mexico given my last trip there, I have to say that the country appears to be still asleep, as Oppenheimer mentions in his book in the chapter devoted to Mexico.  Even though there is entrepreneurship, I also found evidence that the political and economic system is skewed towards inaction rather than reform.  Even more troubling was that I didn't see signs of change in the attitudes of the general population, with a mindset of conformism that was frankly quite disheartening.

It is like we're waiting for something, but I don't know what.  In the meantime, the rest of the newly-industrialised countries are powering ahead. 

Do we want to take control of our destiny, or not?