Elections 2027

Next spring’s elections are approaching. In practice, they are likely to become a contest between two political blocs: the right and the left.

Economic policy cannot be based solely on values and ideals; it must also be grounded in economic realities. An SDP-led government, if formed, would be likely to pursue more values-driven policies, whereas the political right would take a more reality-based approach to economic policy.

Above all, Finland needs greater individual responsibility, because society cannot be built entirely on income transfers and subsidies to different interest groups—whether the recipient is an individual or a legal entity. We cannot continue living on borrowed money indefinitely, no matter how strongly one believes that future economic growth will eventually make billions of euros of debt disappear.

From my perspective, particularly because we are all entrepreneurs or people in management positions, we should understand the realities of how the economy works. Do we really want to increase the tax wedge even further, thereby raising companies’ employment costs? Ultimately, what matters to an employee is how much money they actually take home.

It is also important to recognise that not all companies operate on seemingly endless streams of venture capital. There are many financially self-sufficient and profitable companies whose accumulated equity allows their owners to receive dividends.

This is an established part of Finnish tax planning. For these companies, an appropriate combination of salary and dividends can be one of the few practical ways of rewarding entrepreneurship while still retaining sufficient resources to develop and grow the business.

I would hope that we could look at the economy as a whole rather than viewing everything through the narrow lens of how one particular type of company can scale.

We need all kinds of companies and entrepreneurs for the Finnish economy to succeed.