The government's decision to accept a labour market accord agreed by unions and employers to cut the unit cost of labour is covered in all the papers. Kauppalehti's analysis, provided by reporter Jarno Hartikainen, shed some light on what kind of political games are going on behind the scenes.
Hartikainen says that the government parties are big fans of Margaret Thatcher, the transformational British Prime Minister who smashed trade union power and liberalised financial markets. Sampo Terho, the Finns Party's parliamentary group chair, was bold enough to announce as much to a room full of union leaders last year--and soon afterwards the transport union (one of Finland's most militant), withdrew from talks on the labour accord.
Now the government and in particular the National Coalition party have failed to secure their prize of 'killing consensus', according to Hartikainen. The deal is an agreement between unions and employers, the government is constrained by the labour movement telling it which laws it can pass, and Thatcher's Britain looks a long way off.
There is some hope for the Thatcherites in government, however. They promised to evaluate the progress of localised wage bargaining in May, and then consider whether they will implement their side of the bargain by cutting taxes. Hartikainen expects some pushback at that point as the Thatcherites try one more time to declare the 'death of consensus'.
NCP supports basic income
Finland's trial of a basic income scheme hit the headlines last year when media worldwide wondered how Finland planned to give a certain amount of money each month to everyone in so-called 'basic income'. It's an old idea, originally from Milton Friedman, with supporters on the left and the right in politics. The left sees it as a way to give poorer people dignity while the right thinks it may eliminate disincentives to work by simplifying the benefit system.
The government is planning to run a pilot programme to see how it works, and then assess if it could be implemented in Finland. In an interview on Thursday NCP MP Arto Satonen tells Turun Sanomat why his party supports it and how it might work in practice.
"If a person has one or more part time jobs paying about 1,200-1,300 euros a month, the state would pay a negative income tax on top of that, for example a couple of hundred euros," said Satonen. "That top-up would be bigger if the person has kids."
Unsurprisingly for an MP on the centre-right, Satonen reckons that the policy could help reduce unemployment.
"In Britain the unemployment rate has dropped to five percent largely as a result of Working Tax Credits," continued Satonen. "A similar rate in Finland would mean a hundred thousand new jobs. Negative income tax is western countries' answer to the departure of low-productivity work to countries with cheaper workforces."
The world's 612th richest man
The Forbes billionaire list contained a new name this year: Finnish dental device magnate Heikki Kyöstilä. His Planmeca firm has helped grow his wealth to such an extent that he's now in 612th position on the list, and for Ilta-Sanomat that's an achievement worth a double page spread.
He comes across as an ordinary businessman who plays down his achievements and says he definitely won't move abroad. He still eats the same food, he focuses on his business, and he has similar interests to his peers.
"The golf course is my favourite place, when it's open," Kyöstilä tells IS. "It's a good place to relax and unwind."
Other Finns on the Forbes list are Antti Herlin, Niklas Herlin, Ilkka Herlin, Ilona Herlin and Antti Aarnio-Wihuri.