Bulletin I/2023

BULLETIN

SpringI/2023

Probba

Editor'sNote

...Halfoftheschoolyearhasfliedaway,and thespringbreakisalmostatitsprelude Firstyear Babas suddenly realize they will not be "fuksi"anymoreinashorttime,second-year arewrestlinghardwiththethesis,whileour exchange fellows are planning where to flee from Mikkeli during spring break. A lot of things are taking place right now in our campus,andIwouldn'thidethetruththatI enjoytheatmosphere.

More than a year ago, back in my home country, I didn't think I would be here, enjoying this atmosphere. But I ended up being here, loving the country, the city I'm living in, as if life was trying to prove itself unexpectable.IpickedupsomeFinnishclass, andoneoftheveryfirstsentencesIlearnedto saywas"MinärakastanSuomea" Inourcozy Mikkelicampus,Ifeellikeeverybodyisabig family,especiallywhentheMikkelisongsare shoutedoutloudattheendofeveryPentti, or the happiness I saw in third-year Babas whentheycamebacktoMikkeli.

When the Baba alumni revisited their old school and talked about good memories, whenthe10-yearrendez-vouswaswrittenon thewall,allofasuddenthoughtI:What

about us? Will we be like them after years? We have spent spontaneous time here, got along with amazing people. As the new boards took overthe charge, we promise to keep the student life in Mikkeli as lively as ever,likewhatourpredecessorsdid.Formy part, a person told me " your job is really hard ",andsometimesyouwillfindmeup anddowninthecampushuntingforBulletin materials, but truthfully, I'm more than excited to bring all of that liveliness on our officialmagazine.

"Once upon a time in Mikkeli..."

President'sTwoCents

DearBabas,

Forthefirsttimesince2020,thebeginningof theyearhasbeenasitusedtobe Notonly theonesinMikkeli,butstudentassociations and guilds everywhere around Finland are backtotheirusualoperations Thebeginning oftheyearhasgonesmoothly.RibbonSkate successfully taught international students thaticeisslippery,andduringCareerDaywe learnedthatmaybewehaveachancetogeta realjobsomeday.

I remember the first Wednesday evening of mytimeinMikkeli.Everythingwasstillnew andexciting Fromthatmomentmorethan halfayearhaspassed.Whileeverythingisstill exciting, some things are not the same anymore Yes, I still find myself in the basement of the campus every Wednesday. Yes, I still feel a little unwell during the lecturesonThursdaymornings.However,an importantpartofstudentlifeinMikkelifor nearlythepastthirtyyearsismissing

Bar’n’NightVaakunacloseditsdoorsforthe verylasttimeonthe28thofJanuary After that, the Wednesday nights in Mikkeli have not been the same. No more “Vaakunaan!” shouts after Pentti, no more touching the discoball.OnlytimewilltellifLasPalmasis aworthysuccessortothelegend.

Thebeginningoftheyearisashowcaseforall ofthenewboards.WhilewritingthistextI’m tryingtofigureoutwhattowearonthefirst sits of the year organized by the NESUProbba board 23’ This week should also finally mark the exchange of the Skibba board,afterwhichwe’llfinallygettoknow who to challenge in weekly floorball and futsal.

I’msurethatI’mspeakingforeveryoneofus whenIsaythatI’mexcitedtoseewhatallthe new boards will come up with this year. Seeing how the beginning of the year has gone,Istronglybelievethatwewillhavean amazing year with lots of great events and activitiestoremember!

BestRegards,

PresidentofProbba23’ OtavaTuomi

KEEP CALM AND MEET THE NEW BOARDS

"

"Ipromisetonevergettiredof singingSweetCarolineinkaraoke."

-OtavaTuomi,President-

"Ipromisetobearealseventeen DancingQueen."

-An,EditorinChief-

Ipromisetofindanequilibriumwithschool-workleisurebalance,whereIkeepupwitheverything important,andconcurrentlyenjoymystudentlife thefullest."

-AntonKattelus,CorporateRelationsRepresentative-

"IpromisetokeepGABbetterthanSillis."

-VictoriaBjörkqvist,MasterofCeremonies-

"Ipromisetogetacquaintedwiththe Vaakunadiscoball(Thisdidn’tagewell)."

-EmilLindemann,EventCoordinator-

Photo:SaanaAho

"Ipromisetostopbakingat12am andstartgoingtosleepearlier."

-SashaTaranenko, AcademicAffairsCoordinator-

"Ipromisetobesoberenoughatevents sothepictureswon’tturnoutblurry."

-SaanaAho,CommunicationCoordinator-

"Ipromisenottoavoidtaxes."

-MasiMahlamäki,Treasurer-

"Ipromisetomakesurealltheexchange studentsgetthepleasureofmeetingPoika."

-AidaHelimäki, InternationalAffairsCoordinator-

"Ipromisetonotbelatetoeverything(like submittingthisresolution)."

-EmilKautto,ProjectCoordinator-

"

"Ipromisetomakesurealltheothers fulfilltheirpromises;)."

-EmmaLaaksonen,President-

"Ipromisezerofoodpoisoningsand maximumhydration."

-GeorgiTodorov,ProjectCoordinator-

Ipromisetomakesurewehavesickafterparties despitethetragiclossofVaakuna."

-OnniPeltola,CorporateRelationsRepresentative-

"Ipromisetoworkmya**offjustlike mypredecessorsdid"

-TildaHyttinen,VicePresident-

"Ipromisetobeloudandcleardespite howdrunkIgetduringsits."

-MillaImmonen, CommunicationCoordinator-

"Ipromisetobelesslost."

-EliasSalminen,Treasurer-

"Ipromisetogivepunishmentsyou’ll rememberregardlessofyourblackout."

-JuliaHeikkilä,Toastmaster-

"Ipromisetotryandnotgetbanned fromPuska."

-VilleAlén,EventCoordinator-

Photo:SaanaAho

"Ipromisetocomeupwithasmany newdrinksaspossible."

-EemilKautto-

"Ipromisetomennämun vahvuuksilla*."

-LilianPulli-

"IpromisetogotoLasPalmas atleastoncethisyear."

-AlbertJantunen-

*Drinkingonthejob

"Ipromisetoplaybangersonly."

-SaanaAho-

"Ipromisenotto'nap'atPentti."

-IinaKetola-

"Ipromisetomakeasmanyvodka russiansaspossible."

-MillaImmonen-

Photo:SaanaAho

"Ipromisetoalwaysbethebettergoalie."

-MatiasPitkänen,President-

"IpromisetoscoreallthepenaltiesItake."

-GeorgiTodorov, CoorporateRelationsRepresentative-

"IpromisetomakemyfirstgoalinSäbä."

-EllaSuoninen,EventCoordinator-

"Ipromisetomakemoregoalsinfutsalthan otherSkiBBAmembers."

-LiisaSaaranen,Treasurer"Ipromisetonotmiss100%oftheshotsItake."

-VilleAlén,CommunicationCoordinator-

Photo:SaanaAho

Photo:SaanaAho

"WepromisetoprovideeveryProbbastudentsapossibilityto explorethedeliciousworldofdifferentbeers."

-BBCBoard-

KYGrand AnnualBall

HiProbbaandBabas!

OnSaturday,March4th,wecelebratedKY’s112thAnnualBall.Duringtheeveningwechattedwith guestsovercocktails,enjoyedinspiringspeechesbyourchairRasmusandouralumni,andendedthe eveningwithsometraditionalballdances.Wearesoexcitedtogettoknowyouallduringthisyear!Our yearhaskickedoffwithamazingenergy,andwearelookingforwardtoallthemayhemofthisspring!

JoinusinOtaniemitoexperienceeverythingfromsitzpartiesandcareereventstobarcrawls<3Youcan evenfollowourbrandnewTikTok@ky1911 togetalookatoureventsandfunmemes!

ProbbaatKYGAB!

Asthespringisaroundthecorner,onespecial eventisapproaching…Naturally,it’ssoontime to celebrate Wappu! Grab your dollar greens and experience the wildesttimeoftheyearwithus;)Ontheagenda,there’ssomethingfor everyone. Come play beer pong with KY-Beppo, enjoy the spring weatherduringtheKymppisuora-barcrawlorgrabaKUJpuuhapullo andlistentoartistsduringwapputerde!Theremightevenbesomenew KY Wappu songs on the way… We are so excited to attend Mikkeli RoadTrip!Seeyouallthere!<3

GreetingsfromOtaniemi, KYBoard2023

WrittenbyMeeriKorpi

PhotosbyHenrikAsklöf

Greetings from KY K Y W A P P UT H E W I L D E S T T I M E O F T H E Y E A R

KYPÄ23

In January, the legendary KYPÄ 2023, organized by Suomen Ekonomit, took place near the mesmerizing harbour of Helsinki with the attendance of the new Probba Board What did we have in KYPÄ? Lavishing banquets, on-the-hype music, spontaneous Grand Sillis,... and an inspiring interview with Mr. Martin Paasi, who happens to be Chairman of the Board at Suomen Ekonomit

MartinPaasi

• Extensive experience of leading financial organizations

• Member of the Supervisory Board at Finnvera

• Chairman of the Board at Suomen Ekonomit.

• Savings Economist at Nordnet Bank

• Extensive media exposure (TV, Print, Radio) and host of the most successful business podcast in Finland

• Former CEO of Amanda Capital Plc (now eQ Private Equity).

• Former CEO of East Capital Asset Management in Stockholm

• Former CEO of Seligson & Co Fund Management.

• Established the first exchangetraded fund in Finland: the OMXH25 ETF.

• Certified EFFAS Financial Analyst (CEFA), Master’s Degree in Economics

KYPÄ23: Martin Paasi

Photo:Twitter@MartinPaasi

Inyouropinion,whatisthemostimportant forbeingaleaderormanager?

Empathy. Everybody always keeps telling: you need to have a vision of what you want to accomplish, understand how to organize your troops, be structural and all that. But when it comestodifficultsituationswheresomebodyis unhappyandconflictsarise,empathybecomes extremelyimportantforleaderstoday.

On top of that, I also think that leadership is changing as we ’ re speaking. In the past, the leaderwassupposedtobetheonestandingona podiumforeverybodytolookupto.Butnow, withthesocialmediachannels,youcanexpose your personal traits, create podcasts and have interviews like this. These channels become a tooltomanageyourcompanybecausetheycan deliver your message through. And by that means, leadership is changing from a very orthodoxperspectivetoacloserapproach You havetoleadmoreclosely.Youcannotmaintain the same distance any longer, because people nowadaywon'tbeledbyyouifyouarelikethat Empathycanbringyouclosertothoseyouare leading.

productivitygrowth.Ibelievethereareseveral causescontributingtothisproblem

First,wehaveabigwelfareexpense.Thecosts are too high while the public sector is being inefficient.Thepublicsectorisalwaysrunning less efficiently than the private sector, because theprivatesectorworkseveryday24/7tryingto “do more with less". In the public sector you havelittleofthis,sothere'salotofwasteinthat sense

The second challenge we have is the slowing birthrate 55millionpeopleisnotenoughand we are mismanaging immigration. You know the story of the Mongolian healthcare servant thatdidn'tgetthepermissiontostayinFinland for whatever the reason or for they suspected she had falsified something which wasn't true The immigration authorities really need to get this problem solved because we need more people into Finland to do what needs to be done.

And what do you think are the challenges businessesinFinlandarefacingnowadays?

ThechallengethatFinlandisfacingrightnowis basically stagnating productivity growth, meanwhilealleconomicgrowthstemsfrom

And this is particularly true

The fact that we need more people into Finland is because we have a steep population pyramid: the great generationsarebecomingoldandthere'sfewer and fewer people to take care of this welfare society. Foreign direct investment made into Finlandischallengedbytheslowingbirthrate andwearemismanagingtheamountofpeople coming to Finland to work. This is obviously not a good equation. We should roll out the carpetforpeopletocometoFinlandtostudyor workandweshouldhaveapipelinethatlooks welcome.Itisthecorrectwordthatyouhear: thisisyourpipeline.Moreimmigrants,less

❛Leadership is changing as we are speaking. Empathy can bring you closertothoseyouareleading.

rules and bureaucracy, more permits, simpler permit procedures, more continuous politics

Otherthanthatwewon'tbeabletomanagethe situationbecausesoonwewillbeinshortageof peopleandofforeigndirectinvestments,which is the fastest way to get the economy going down.

Intermsofwelcomingotherpeoplewhocome to Finland to work and study, I think that Finlandhasbeenmuchmoreopeninrecent years.Fromaneducationangle,forexample, more and more international students are lookingtoFinland.

Thatiswonderfulnews.Ihaveapodcastcalled Rahapodi,whichisfairlysuccessfulinFinland; oneofthemisaboutcriticismtowardstheway we have been mismanaging immigration

Howevertherearealotofgoodfundamentalsin Finland that we can build from; we just need moredo-ers AndIalsothinkthatthissortof Nordic welfare state escalates from the public sector growing a little bit too big and then a littlebittoolittle,andthenalittlebittoobig again.Nowweareintheturnwherewereally needtomakeitsmallerforachange.

Soit'slikeasinecurve.

Yes,asinecurve

Mylastquestionisquitepersonal:whoisthe personthatinspiresyouthemost?

Well, this is a really tough one because I can't really say that there is one. I'm typically a collectorinthissenseandIwouldsaythat

Robert Oppenheimer.Hisbiography, which called American Prometheus, is extremely inspiringbecausetheyhadwrittenaboutaguy whoisveryinterestingandwaslivinginavery interesting time And then they have done it, written the biography as objectively as ever possible. And this biography from Oppenheimer has really inspired me; I always recommend it to everybody. That is one for certain,andthereareothers.JohnF.Kennedy. He's also dead I have to come to the living Schwarzkopf.HewasageneralduringtheIraq wars.Iliketheclearcut,simplelifeofamilitary management style, in a sense, because it simplifies things, but it's obviously not applicabletoallsituations.

Photo:AmericanPrometheus:TheTriumph andTragedyofJ RobertOppenheimerby KaiBird&MartinJ Sherwin

From our IAC to the exchange students...

Hello,allyoulovelyexchangestudents!Ihope yourexchangetermhasstartednicelyandyou have been enjoying the snowy Finland. I also hopeyouhavebeenabletostayupontheicy streetswhilerushingtoclassandthatyouhave enjoyedyourfairshareofPenttisandmanaged to still make it to class on most Thursdays (if not,heythat’swhatthethreeabsencesarefor).

The Finnish winter can be beautiful, but the darknessthatcomeswithitisforsurea

downside But not to worry the first signs of springarefinallystartingtoshowasthedaysare getting longer and the sun is shining brighter. Keep an eye out for the first flowers pushing through the icy ground as soon as the snow disappears.Ihopeyouwillenjoythespringand allthatitandMikkelihastooffer.Togetherlet’s makeyourtimehereunforgettable.

InternationalAffairCoordinator AidaHelimäki

MeetElias,aguyfromthebeautifulcityof Innsbruck,Austria,andanoutdooractivity enjoyer.Ifyoulikemountainsandall mountain-relatedsports,likeskiing,hiking,and rockclimbing,cometoEliasandhemightshow youtheway.Plus,hehasspent6months studyinginourcampus,sosurelyheknows aboutMikkelimorethanthevastmajorityof theexchangestudents.

Elias,Austria

Whatareyourexpectationsbeforecoming toFinland?

Well there were the obvious things: cold, dark,thepeoplearekindbutdon'ttalkmuch andtheydrinktomuch.Fromtheuniversity, I expectedafreshenergyandoutlookinthe university life and to meet cool new people and experience a previously unfamiliar country.

What makes you surprised most about Finland?

Its very beautiful from a landscape point of view although I miss mountains Especailly Laplandandthenorthernlightsareamazing.

What is the craziest thing you have done inFinlandsofar?

The craziest thing was Mursulaiva just because of the whole insanity on that boat RunningBabawasalsoverycrazyandapart fromthatwasprobablysleepingonHelsinki train station because we hadn't booked an overnightstayafterournightout.

Finalone(youmightbeinterestedinthis): what do you think Finland should learn fromyourowncountry?

Drinkingbeer �� nojustkidding It'sagood question indeed and difficult to answer because I think that Finnland is better than Austria in almost all relevant categories but one thing that come to my mind is that Austriansareveryoutgoing.Yougettothem easily and they treat you like a friend very quickly.

WhatdoyoumostenjoydoinginMikkeli?

It’sdefinitelyPenttibecauseformeit’sachance to know people, both exchange and bachelor student.AndIappreciatethatPenttiisopened every Wednesday, which can let me to have some relax time in the mid week And also I enjoy the Ribbon Skate a lot! I mean just because Mikkeli is so cold, then we ’ ve got the chancetoskate AndIhavesomuchfuninthe activities.

What is the craziest thing you have done heresofar?

Maybeit’sthebigfunneltoputalcoholinand drink(I’veforgottenitsname).Formeit’scrazy todrinkwiththattool

(Markhismajesticname:Poika.)

How do you feel about the program our campusprovides?

My first course here is Business Consults in GlobalEconomy.BeforethatI’veneverthought oflearningbusinesscanbepractical,sincemy

IfyougotoPenttisomeevening,youmight crashintoYasmine,whoisdancingpassionately tothebarsongonherownstage.Comingfrom apopulous,busyplacelikeHongKong, Yasminehasexperiencedahugechangewhen shemovedtoMikkeli-asmallandquiettown. Moresurprisinglyforher,thisisherfirsttime beinginEurope. Butitturnsouttobenota baddecisionatall...

Yasmine, HongKong

home university focus more on theories and concepts ButinthatcourseIcanreallyhandlea realcase,thatisverynewtome.

And now I am having Data Visualisation and StorytellinginBusinessandit’sveryusefultoo.I learn how to manage and present data and it benefitsthecommunicationinmyfuturecareer

What do you think Finland should learn fromyourowncountry?

Idon’tthinkIshouldusetheword"learn"but thefoodinHongKongismuchmoredelicious (no offence coz Finnish food also good, just makeacomparison) Andthetransportationin HongKongisalsobetter.

CanyousaysomethingtotheBabastudents inyourownlanguage?Iwon'ttranslateit!

Helsingin

MARJO KOISTINEN

·MemberoftheBoardof HelsinginEkonomit2022-2024

·SeniorLecturerinFinance,Laurea UniversityofAppliedSciences2015-

·ManagementAccounting,Tapiolainsurance company2001-2002

·BusinessController,SoneraOyj1999-2000 Controller,BATNordicOy1997-1999

·AssistantBusinessController,ABB1996-1997

·MasterofScienceinEconomics(Accounting)1996, HelsinkiSchoolofEconomics

·Hobbies:Orienteeringsince1980

Photo:HenniHyvärinen

When I was a child in the 1970s, Finland was verydifferentfromtoday.Ihaveseentheriseof Finland and also the deep depression of the 1990s.Mychildhoodwasveryhappy.Iwasvery goodatSchoolandIwasveryactiveinhobbies andIhavealsobeenworkingpart-timesinceI was 15. I still participate in orienteering competitions and the orienteering people are my second family. I love Finnish nature and forests.

The 1970s was a time of slow growth, when very few people got a loan and the basic loan interest rate was around 10% and the Finnish financial market was very closed. The largest exporting country and importing country was the Soviet Union In the 80s, the Finnish financial market began to open and economic growth accelerated. The Bank of Finland opened the issue of foreign loans in 1986 Foreignloanswereavailableatalowerinterest ratethanFinnishloans,whichweretiedtothe BankofFinland'sbaserate.Themarkkawasa fixedcurrencywhosevaluewasdeterminedby the Finnish government and the Bank of Finland.Finland'seconomicgrowthwasfastfor almost ten years until 1989, when it was the peak of the boom and everyone was offered a loan, and above all foreign currency loans. Money flowed into Finland and house prices rosequickly

The year 1989 was significant, because the Berlin Wall fell, i.e. East Germany was united withWestGermany,andaperiodofchangeand instabilityalsobeganintheSovietUnion This affectedthedecreaseinFinnishexportsandthe rise in interest rates, as well as the increase in government debt The banks had also taken foreigncurrencyloansandthesituationofthe banksdeteriorated.TheSovietUnioncollapsed in 1991, which further weakened Finnish exports and further deepened economic difficultiesanddepression.

Apartment prices had risen rapidly in the late 80s Thehousingbubbleburstatthebeginning of the 90s and housing prices collapsed as quickly as they had risen a couple of years earlier TheBankofFinlandforbadethebanks to give loans anymore, because the banks' situation was critical. Many mortgage debtors had to sell their apartments at a much lower price,orthebanktookovertheapartmentifno additionalguaranteescouldbefound.

The end result was the most shocking depression in Finland's recent history: unemploymentrosetoalmost20percent,there were a huge number of bankruptcies. Apartment prices collapsed and many individuals were left with loans, even though theapartmenthadgonetothebank.Thiswas alltoomuchformanypeople,andthesaddest event in our history is the huge number of suicidesattheturnofthe90s.

Helsingin Ekonomit

Helsingin Ekonomit

I graduated from Helsinki University of EconomicsandBusinessin1996withamaster's degree in economics. We lived life after the recessionandIgotajobatABBServiceoutof 250applicants MytitlewasAssistantBusiness Controllerandmytaskwastointerview,train theexcelbudgetbaseforABBService'sservice center managers and make a report and 12month rolling forecast using excel for the management team from the service centers locatedindifferentpartsofFinland.

In 1997, the labor market began to open up after the recession of the 90s, and there were many jobs available. Next, I got the job of ControllerattheBATNordiccompany,where Ididawiderangeoftasksrelatedtobudgeting, reporting, accounting, cash management and investing I was also involved in the SAP R/3 project, where Finland was the first pilot countryofalargeinternationalcompany.

Finnish Post and the telecommunications company were incorporated Post and TelephoneoperationswerecontinuedbyPosti Group Oy and Sonera Oyj (Swedish Telia boughtSonera) Istartedworkingin1999asa

Business Controller in Sonery Oyj's Abacus Solutionsunit.Thistimewasaperiodofstrong growth in the mobile phone business and the time is also called the time of the internet bubble. During the Internet bubble, many startupcompanieswereborn,whosegoalwasto develop mobile phone applications before the smartphone era. Abacus Solutions was sold to theSwedishcompanyTriocom

AftertheInternetbubble,Idecidedtoswitchto teaching I worked 2002-2014 at Helsinki Business College. I was able to be the project leaderinmakingacompletelyentrepreneurshipbased curriculum together with the management,AdvisoryBoardandteachers.All teaching was linked to entrepreneurship, whether it was marketing, accounting, mathematics or languages. I started 2015 as a Lecturer of Finance at Laurea University of Applied Sciences. Laurea has a very positive entrepreneurial and project-based teaching pedagogy

Writtenby:MarjoKoistinen

Slay your kitchen with CINNAMON ROLLS

Ingredients

Milk(3/4cup)

Granulatedsugar(1/4cup)

Quick-riseyeast(2+1/4teaspoons)

Butter(1/4cup)

Egg+eggyolk(1each)

Breadflour(3cups)

Brownsugar(2/3cup)

Cinnamon(1+1/2tablespoons)

Salt(3/4teaspoon)

Instructions

Step1:Warmmilktoaround43°C, then transfer it to a bowl and sprinkleyeastontop.Addinsugar, egg,eggyolkandmeltedbutter.Mix until well combined Next stir in flourandsaltuntiladoughbeginsto form.

Step 2:Place dough hook on stand mixerandkneaddoughonmedium speed for 8 minutes Dough should formintoaniceballandbeslightly sticky

Babas' Kitchen

Babas' Kitchen

Step 3:Transferdoughballtoawell-oiledbowl, coverwithplasticwrapandawarmtowel Allow dough to rise for 1 hour to 1.5 hours, or until doubledinsize.

Step 4: After dough has doubled in size, transfer doughtoawell-flouredsurfaceandrollout.Spread softenedbutteroverdough

Step5:Inasmallbowl,mixtogetherbrownsugar andcinnamon Sprinklemixtureoverthebuttered dough,thenrubthebrownsugarmixtureintothe butter.

Step6:Tightlyrolldoughupandcut.

Step7:Placecinnamonrollsinacakepan.Cover with plastic wrap and a warm towel and let rise againfor30-45minutes

Step 8: Preheat oven to 175°C. Remove plastic wrapandtowelandbakecinnamonrollsfor20-25 minutesoruntiljustslightlygoldenbrownonthe edges.

(Her cinnamon rolls are a thing you should try onceinalifetime!)

Photo:Alisa

Humans of Aalto: Professor Pavlov

How do you think economics would be importantforstudents?

Well,mythinkingisthateconomicsisextremely important because it's everywhere and you know,theprogressisinnovations,theprogress isnewtechnologiesandsoon Butatthesame time,thereasonthatpeopleinvent,thereason that people implement, the reason that people go to work, it's all about economics And so therefore it's really important to, I think, understandhoweconomicsworkforeveryone. Andwe'vebeeninfluencedbyeconomicforces onadailybasis,soit'sveryhelpfultohavesome framework on how to think about economic decision making and understand how the economicsystemsarounduswork.

Howdidyoufeelwhenyoutookatransition fromyourphysicsmajortotheeconomics?

Inmycase,Iwasincollegebackintheearly90s, andatthattimetherewasalotofbigchangesin theworld:IgrewupintheSovietUnion,and theSovietUnionfellapartatthattime AndsoI wantedtounderstandwhathappened,whythe economy that had been working for so many yearssuddenlyjuststoppedworking Iwanted tostudyeconomicsandIstillfinishedphysics, which I started. I went into physics because that'swhatIdidinhighschool SoIwaslikeon a physics kind of track. When I came to the United States, I adapted to continue studying physics. But then I was able to pick up computerscienceonthewaybecausethiswas alsodevelopingkindoffieldrightsatthetime AndonceIfinished,Iwasabouttofinishmy undergraduatestudies.

Then I asked myself what I would like to do next, and the answer was I would like to do somethingelse.Theopportunitycostofdoing physicswastoohighformebecauseIwantedto understandmoreaboutthesocialworld,about economics, about how countries work. And physicswasnotprovidingthoseanswersforme. And so even though I loved physics, I loved computer science, but I wanted to do something else, at least for the next few years. Andsothat'swhyIappliedforgraduateschool ineconomics.Butatthesametime,Ididusethe maths that I learned in physics. I did use the computer skills that I learned while being computer science major for studying economics

So after years digging into economics, have you found the answer to your initial questions about the economy that had been workingsowellforyearssuddenlycollapsed?

Goodquestion.IthinknowIunderstandbetter how the system works. To some extent it's a curse because now you see the forces, what peopletrytoachieveandyouunderstandthose very often things happen. Economies don't work well not because, for example, people don't know how to do good economics and how to develop, but because it benefits somebody else maybe. And so certain policies just would not be implemented because again, it'sagainstsomeinterests It'snotonlydifficult toknowwhatneedstobedone,butalsohowto implement it. For example, one of the things thateconomistsagreeisthatthere'snoneedfor hunger anymore. We have enough capacity to growenoughfoodforeverybodytobefed.But stillthere'shungerintheworld Andallthis

hungerveryoftenaretheresultofmaybesome supplychainissues,wars,disasters Wecansolve those problems, but we just cannot organize ourselvestosolvethoseproblems.ButatleastI feellikeIhavethetoolsthatIcanlookatthe particular problem and I have some kind of pathway. I can see the pathway to solve a particularproblem

Canyougivesomebookrecommendationsfor thestudentswhoareinterestedineconomics?

IwouldhighlyrecommendTheWorldIsFlat. I thought that was a great book and so that described how outsourcing occurred in the UnitedStates Buttherearetonsofgoodbooks and if I may plug my own book. We’ve just published a book called Feedback Economics. Economics which basically takes a systems approachtoeconomicsandthekindofdiagram that I showed you in class - the “spaghetti” diagram Sothattypeofapproachtoeconomic problemsisstillarelativelynewapproach,but hopefullyit'sgoingtocomeup.AndIthinkit's very powerful because we understand that economies have lots of reinforcing feedback loopsandalsobalancingfeedbackloopsbecause there's lots of resistance to change which are balancing loops in the economy. Therefore in that book we try to bring that analysis of complexitiesandunintendedconsequencesinto economicanalysis.Sohopefully,ifweusethat typeofanalysis,we'llbemorecognizant,more mindfulofpotentialdisastersthatarecoming, likethe2007-2008financialcrisis.

Humans of Aalto

What's Next: Our Upcoming Events

RibbonSkate

"Sleddingtoyourdm"Sits

FlipcupTournament

ThesisSits

MikkeliRoadTrip

Wappu

Möbba

MikkeliBoatTrip SummerSits

We are here!

MikkelinYritysApprot

BabeingWeek

GrandAnnualBall