Finland Rocks Economy

This post is about the cultural influences Finnish people have shared with the United States and vice versa. More specifically, rock and roll and heavy metal are two musical art forms which both cultures have demonstrated a brilliant knack for recording and performing. The most famous Finnish performers to break into the American main stream is a group of metal rockers that formed the band “HIM” in 1991 out of Helsinki Finland. The economic significance to this band comes from their five platinum records sold in Finland and a single record which went gold in the United States. For those unfamiliar with music RIAA awards a gold record is approximately one million sales of a publicized album. Although the profits from these albums go directly to the band and the record company this is still representative of Finland’s exporting economy which according to Finnish music reviews states that about forty percent of its music is exported and listened to by other nations. I thought this was an interesting fact about Finland and an awesome way for a country to contribute to its Economy. If you’re unfamiliar with the band HIM I’m sure you might have seen their clothing in the mall or on a skateboard which is just a few items these business rockers have merchandised to the US and elsewhere.

[ Picture of HIM logo and band members with marketing partner Bam Margera]

http://www.heartagram.com/content/band-bio

http://www.fmq.fi/index.php?option=com_content&view=article&id=72&Itemid=86

Finland: Why Public Transportation?

For some reason I can still remember when gas was only $0.99 a gallon. It’s obvious that this is an old memory and such prices for this commodity we may never see again. On the bright side, the premium that Americans pay for gasoline per gallon is quite lower than what Europeans pay. Finland pays €5.41 for every gallon of gasoline which translates to approximately $8.66 per gallon of gas in US currency. With gasoline prices as high as this the utilization of other means of transpiration have been implemented in Finland and also throughout many other nations in Europe. For instance, the Helsinki area in Finland has a pretty good public transport system that includes buses, trams, ferries, local trains and a subway/metro. Trains are generally the best way to travel between cities in Finland. They're clean, safe, reliable and deliver their travelers to a variety of destinations. There are different types of trains: local commuter trains, intercity trains and the super fast Pendolino trains. It is also common to take a train from Helsinki to Moscow and St. Petersburg Russia on a daily basis for those who work or have affairs abroad. Trains and trolleys in Finland have also adapted and improved over the span of their usage. Restaurants, bars and a place to park your car to travel with you have all been incorporated on the modern trains in Finland. I think that as fossil fuel supplies continue to get lower and prices continues to rise public transportations such as the kind we see in Europe will become more prevalent in the United States as well as the amount of people who choose to utilize public transportation system.

http://carscoop.blogspot.com/2008/04/european-gas-prices-and-you-thought-350.html

http://finland-travel.suite101.com/article.cfm/public_transportation_in_finland

[pictures of public transportation in Finland]

How's The Weather ?

As you may know Finland is a Nordic country located in the far northeast region of Europe. Due to the northern location of Finland which borders the Baltic Sea and the Gulf of Finland this country can experience some extreme temperatures and weather variations. Finland’s seasons are very similar to what we experience in the United States given that the coldest days are in February and the warmest moth is July. However, the adaptations for cold climates that people in the far northern regions of the United States have acquired are a nationally recognized way of life for the people in Finland. Items such as snow shoes, heavy cold and water proof clothing, electric blankets, snowmobiles, and stemming hot shower rooms called saunas are all typical elements throughout the country which offer resilience and functionality to the Finnish people during extremely cold conditions. Often during winter a shovel must be kept inside the house so the inhabitants can dig a path though the snow so work and school are possible. I feel these types of conditions which affect the whole country also affect the taste of items for which the Finnish people demand. For instance, snow shoes and electric blankets are items that people in Tarpon Springs Florida have little use for; a basic and obvious example but still an important underlining theme to the Finnish philosophy of supply and demand. Anyways, the point is good luck selling board shorts and flip flops in Helsinki.

http://goscandinavia.about.com/od/weatherinscandinavia/ss/weatherfinland.htm
http://www.fmi.fi/en/

[Picture of Finnish Winter]

New and Old Prison Philosophies: Finland

For Finland’s prison system heavy bars, armed guards, and strict living regimens are a thing of the past for those incarcerated. Approximately thirty years ago Finland adopted a very lenient prison philosophy called an “open prison system” and did away with their traditional soviet style prison facilities. An open prison system uses high tech digital cameras for monitoring prisoner activity and uses almost half the number of guards used in traditional prisons. The general concept of an open prison system is to develop criminals into socially acceptable members of society by providing more opportunity for prisoners to receive education, job training and counseling. This type of justice system addresses the fact that prisoners often become more aggressive criminals and outcastes of society if placed in a traditional prison system and become more of a criminal threat to society when they are released. Providing prisoners with rehabilitation rather than punishment is one of the main constituents in this judicial movement and has proven to be very effective. Finland's incarceration rate is just 52 per 100,000 people, less than half Canada's rate of 119 per 100,000 people and a tiny fraction of the American rate of 702.

I feel the economic significance behind these prison systems is that Finland is able to save money by housing and feeding fewer prisoners with tax dollars. Rehabilitating prisoners so that they may return to the workforce instead of implementing harsh punishments that may cause prisoners to becoming more harden criminals is also beneficial to Finland’s GDP. In the United States, According to Department of Correction Statistics, more than 5,000 inmates last year were serving sentences for non-trafficking drug charges with an average cost of nearly $27,000 to keep an inmate in prison for one year. The savings that could be made from not incarcerating such inmates would be very significant and provide good reason to rethink the existing prison system.

http://newpol.org/node/52
http://www.gastongazette.com/articles/way-44383-judicious-prison.html
http://www.pfi.org/cjr/human-rights-documents/gentle-justice-analysis-of-open-prison-systems-in-finland.-a-way-to-the-future

[Picture of dorm style jail cells in a Finish open prison facility]

Politcal Parties of Finland

How a country manages their economic issues often can depend on their political views and party in office. For example, In America various Republicans wish to drill for oil off the coast of our own shores while some Liberal participants urge that we find new alternative fuel altogether. Anyhow, the point is that either of the two American political parties would change the economic structure to some degree; however, Finland’s parliamentary political system consists of six main political parties each with a different philosophy on economic and political policy.
For this blog I will briefly describe and give the top six political parties that are currently active within the Finish political system. First the National Coalition Party (Kokoomus), this is the Finish Conservative party which aims at traditional Finish values. The Centre Party (Keskusta), this party consists of people mostly living in the rural areas of Finland in the Northern regions and leans in favor of the agricultural participants within the economy. The Social Democrats Party (SDP), this is a socialist party within Finland; Lenin, Guevara, and Marx were some of the famous members from this school of thought. True Finns Party (Perussuomalaiset), this is a popular party that consists of patriotic Finns which aims at traditional values without being overly conservative. The Christian Democrats (KD), this is a political party which wishes to keep religion associated with politics and education; the national religion of Finland is Christian Lutheran. The Green Party (Vihreat), characteristics of this party are also turning up in the American Democratic Party which aims at preserving mother Earth and “going green”. These are the top six parties within Finland’s political makeup with each party containing a slightly different philosophy on how to run the country effectively and efficiently. The current Finish President Tarja Halonen is the first female president of Finland and is currently a member of the Social Democrats Party.

http://www.finlandforthought.net/
http://www.answers.com/topic/tarja-halonen

[ Picture of Finnish Parliament Building ]