Special Lecture by Olli Koski: Global Shocks and Small Open Economies, How Can We Succeed? – Case Finland

Faculty of International Relations, Department of World Economy and Centre for European Studies are happy to invite you to a special lecture

Global Shocks and Small Open Economies, How Can We Succeed? – Case Finland

presented by Mr. Olli Koski, Director  of Business Intelligence at Ministry of Economic Affairs and Employment, Finland.

H.E. Jukka Pesola, Ambassador of Finland will take part in the subsequent discussion.

Lecture will take place on Wednesday November 7, 2018 from 14:30 in RB 212.

Up to the global financial crisis of 2008 Finland enjoyed a long period of very strong growth, driven by the ICT-sector and the telecom giant Nokia. For many, Finland represented a model of growth based on innovation and new technology. This golden period of growth came to an unexpected end, when the global financial crisis hit and was coincided with the downfall of Nokia’s mobile phone business. What followed was an economically lost decade: the level of GDP Finland had in 2008 was achieved again in 2018.

The question is: what happened? Why did it take so long to recover? The lecture will give a policy-maker’s view on the main causes of the depression. We will discuss how the longstanding institutions of economy and society performed during the crisis and how they could be improved for the future. These are lessons that can be applied to other small and open economies as well.

I will argue that the possibility of future economic shocks is probably greater due to the emergence of new technologies, such as artificial intelligence, and the information economy. Therefore it is vital for many small and open economies to improve their long-run resilience in the face of this development. I will discuss the findings of our recent government report on AI and the future of work, which sets out a series of reforms that would make a small and open economy more resilient and competitive.