I'd love to see all of them break through to the level of my adoptive homeland of Finland, and perhaps even beyond (if we don't find a way to make ourselves more business friendly first, of course!). Tremendous potential in all 3 of these places. I'd love to visit Riga or Tallinn one of these days.
- Estonian
I hope to do whatever part I can to contribute to Estonia’s success.
…not with a crypto startup, though.
20 years ago Russian writer Viktor Pelevin remarked that "we are like a banana republic that has to import its bananas from Finland". But fast forward those 20 years, Finland itself is now a buffer state that buffers a dead end. In many ways, Baltic states and Finland made money trading with Russia, and if Russia stays AFK, their combined economic viability is in doubt.
I'm not sure what is Finland's comparative advantage these days. What are things that are is cheaper to do in Finland (or Latvia) that you cannot do in Hungary, on Cyprus or in Denmark? The logistic leg is surely longer and I'm frankly not sure that you're going to pull it off.
This is like comparing Silicon Valley salaries with Chinese
My point was, Finland is doing several different things, most of which may now be done cheaper elsewhere.
Sure, I don't expect that Finland's economy would just implode. Developed countries don't do that. But it's quite possible it will enter multiple years long economic malaise, even by post-2022 EU accounts. As other countries slowly eat its lunch by developing matching skills while having better logistical disposition to use them.
Wasn't there some trade policy wierdness back in the 90s that made Finland (on paper) one of the world's top banana exporters or something? A short search didn't come up with anything, so I can't tell if I only imagined that back then.
But I feel you're not extending your own question far enough to answer it for yourself. Why do in Finland what is cheaper to do in Cyprus? Why do in Cyprus what is cheaper to do in Laos? Etc, etc. The answer is usually not "The economy is wrong and I am right".
Logistics-wise, it is true that we are farther away from places, but it's also true the price of logistics has fallen over the past 100 years by several orders of magnitude -- and that we have a giant sea on our western flank which makes it even cheaper to move huge amounts of freight. I don't think you can look at the sophistication of modern logistical operations and deem that that is going to be the dealkiller for people. Doubly so when you consider the rising tide of self-driving technologies of all kind -- triply so when you consider Finland is one of the few states in Europe still actively investing in nuclear power. A self guided, nuclear powered cargo fleet is the kind of thing I dream about at night.
But again - that wouldn't be specific to Finland, that would be a boon to any state with a coastline. So I just don't really see it as all that relevant from a comparative advantage viewpoint. There has to be more to the story than the raw logistics of it, much like there has to be more to the story of Python being more popular than x86 these days even though x86 is closer to the metal.
The forestry industry is still a big player, especially with the recent disconnection of Russia from the world economy. Biofuels may play a part in that. But not sure it's a big enough differentiator these days.
The country is well-educated, however it suffers from the same problem as much of Europe: not enough young people to support a growing retired population. That retired population is also more conservative leaning and doesn't want more immigration, yet Finland needs more skilled immigrants. Again, a common European story of an older voting base who want to live off the fruits of other peoples' labour (whether as recipients of government largesse, or as landlords on their property investments) but do their darnedest to make it harder for that labour to make those fruits.
In recent history in the region all important railroads and motorways were always East-West to facilitate quick military transfer while new North-South links are a lot more valuable for the region's economy. If only we manage to keep our tax/business laws stable, have more effective judiciary and work towards common interests instead of being played against eachother by various "powers" we'll have it pretty good.
CIA indeed defines Northern Europe as you describe, including Denmark, plus Iceland. [1] However the United Nations has a different definition, which also includes the Baltics, UK, and Ireland. [2]
[1] https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Northern_Europe#CIA_World_Fact...
[2] https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Northern_Europe#UN_geoscheme_c...
In the UN geoscheme, Baltic countries are part of Northern Europe. According to EuroVoc, Baltic countries are part of Northern Europe.
Nordic is very different from Northern.
As a founder, I am much happier in Estonia. Life is much simpler when you don’t have to jump through twenty hoops because of some stupid political decision for every action you take as a small business. While I can’t speak for all of the Baltics, Estonia truly has a lot of potential in that regard. Hell, the „IRS“ here has a support chat! Unthinkable in Germany.
Sure, a lot of things need work and are still developing, especially in rural areas, and of course no country comes without issues, but Tallinn isn’t far off German cities in many areas. In some, it’s even outright better. Free public transport anyone? Being able to pay by card everywhere? Self-checkout in supermarkets? Not a thing in Germany.
There is the same issue in France. I'm pretty sure it's viewed by big companies that own the government as a feature to impede concurence (however small) to arise.
Let's look at some data. Estonia ranks extremely high in math, science, and reading tests given to 15 year olds as shown by the international PISA tests. [1] In fact only a handful of Asian countries rank higher. The results are basically the same as the highest ranking state in the US - Massachusetts.
> huge corruption
Estonia ranks #14 in the Corruption Perceptions Index, which is really good. [2] Also, having lived in Estonia most of my life I have never encountered a situation that involves a bribe, whether explicit or implied.
> most young people left for greener pastures
Young people want to see the world. I personally spent years living in other countries, and a lot of my friends as well. However most of us ended up returning in our 30s. Turns out Estonia is pretty great.
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[1] https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Programme_for_International_St...
[2] https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Corruption_Perceptions_Index#2...
The problem is not corruption, the problem is this self-loathing victim mindset. I am also from there and I am sick of it. If you don't like it, go away somewhere where the are no problems and no corruption.