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According to Teemu Malmi, Professor of Accounting at the School of Business, economy is the basis for a welfare society and, ultimately, all decisions are economic decisions. The success of export companies is vital for the well-being of our economy.

'We must make decisions and also put them into practice. Decision-making must be made faster than it is at the moment, and implementation problems arising from ourselves, must be resolved. Well planned is still completely undone', said Professor Malmi when advising Members of Parliament to take care of the Finnish economy.

Professor of Economics Matti Pohjola presented the challenges and reconstruction measures of the Finnish welfare society to the audience. According to Pohjola, there are three challenges: market economy, the welfare society and the labour market.

'Economic growth has declined due to faded productivity growth. This results in decline in growth in prosperity unless new growth in productivity is achieved. The ageing population, which is typical for a welfare state, will cause the cost of pensions and care to rise, which means that tax rates will go up. Cuts on education, research and development will, in turn, result in lower economic growth as cuts are made to factors for growth. Low employment rate forms a challenge for the labour market. As a result, the tax revenue is not sufficient to finance the welfare state', said Pohjola.

According to Professor Pohjola, productivity can be increased by robotisation and digitalisation. However, Finland seems to be a bit behind in these areas if compared to Sweden and the United States.

'It should not be forgotten that higher education provides greater protection against job loss while contributing to the introduction of new technologies. In this time of changing technology and work, the importance of on-the-job learning is emphasised. As new technologies have not yet been established, appropriate training is not always available.'

The Economic Defence Course event is a summit between Members of Parliament, company executives and the academic world’s leading experts. This was the fourth time the course was held. And this time it also served as the kick-off for the parliamentary elections to be held next spring. Speakers at the event included, for instance, Emeritus Professor Sixten Korkman from Aalto University. In addition, Director Riitta Lumme-Tuomala at Aalto EE and Postdoctoral Researcher Hertta Vuorenmaa from the School of Business commented on the reform proposals of Members of Parliament and what major changes are needed in education.

The event was organised by Aalto University Executive Education (Aalto EE) in cooperation with the newspaper Helsingin Sanomat. Other partners were TEK (Academic Engineers and Architects in Finland), the Elo Mutual Pension Insurance Company, Finnish Business School Graduates and the Jenny and Antti Wihuri Foundation.

Twitter: #tpk2018

Anna Kontula's turn from Left Alliance to present how the education system should be developed. Founder and partner, Lifeline Ventures, Timo Ahopelto, Postdoctoral Researcher Hertta Vuorenmaa andDirector Riitta Lumme-Tuomala at Aalto EE discussed and commented the presentations. Reporter Jaakko Lyytinen from Helsingin Sanomat on the right.

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