Jooa Mustonen from Gymnasiet Lärkan upper secondary school in Helsinki is the Economic Guru of Finland 2017. Runner-ups were Rasmus Keinänen from Kuopio and Sauli Kärkkäinen from Iisalmi. Economic Guru is a yearly competition promoting financial literacy in Finnish upper secondary schools. It has been running since 1997, making this the 20th anniversary year.
The final event took place in Helsinki on 2‒3 March. Its 14 finalists were selected through a preliminary competition, which about a thousand students from 128 schools took part in.
The final competition consists of a written and a spoken part. This year the contestants discussed the economic reasons behind the push of protectionism, and what consequences increased protectionism could have from the viewpoints of global economy and Finland. In the spoken part, the contestants debated whether financial aid for students should consist entirely of student loan or not, and whether personal assets should be taken into account in the prices of long-term care services for the elderly.
This year, the Economic Guru competition is celebrating its own 20th anniversary as well as Finland’s centenary year of independence. The objective of the national competition is to encourage and equip young people with attitudes, knowledge and skills that strengthen their management of personal finances.
The awards of the competition include the title of Economic Guru, an authentic doctoral hat encased in a glass case, free subscriptions to financial magazines and monetary awards, in addition to which successful competitors can directly apply for a place of study. Those who rank among the top three in the competition can apply directly for a place at the Aalto University School of Business, the Jyväskylä University School of Business and Economics, or at the Tampere University School of Management (Degree Programme in Business Studies). All finalists can also apply for a place at the Helsinki University (Discipline of Economics), the Lapland University of Applied Sciences, or the Hanken School of Economics in Helsinki or Vaasa.
Sanni Grahn-Laasonen, Finland’s Minister of Education and Culture, congratulated the finalists, and encouraged them to continue to develop their potential and partake in social debate. Even though financial literacy is at a high level in Finland, Grahn-Laasonen nonetheless also expressed concern over the social polarisation of knowledge and skills.
“Entrepreneurs and those with higher education or high income are better informed in financial and economic matters. We should seek to improve the financial literacy of all Finns.”
Economic Guru is organised by the Federation of Finnish Financial Services (FFI), the Association for Teachers of History and Social Studies (HYOL), and the Finnish Financial Ombudsman Bureau (FINE). The competition is also supported by the Finnish association of financial journalists (Taloustoimittajat) and the Union of Finnish Upper Secondary School Students.
All finalists:
- Daniel Backström (Mattlidens gymnasium, Espoo)
- Paavo Erola (Lyseonpuiston lukio, Rovaniemi)
- Sauli Havu (Tammerkosken lukio, Tampere)
- Jasmin Jutila (Olarin lukio, Espoo)
- Matias Jämsen (Tapiolan lukio, Espoo)
- Rasmus Keinänen (Kuopion Lyseon lukio, Kuopio)
- Daniel Ketonen (Katedralskolan i Åbo, Turku)
- Sauli Kärkkäinen (Iisalmen lyseo, Iisalmi)
- Jooa Mustonen (Gymnasiet Lärkan, Helsinki)
- Veeti Niskanen (Kempeleen lukio, Kempele)
- Niilo Salo (Kosken lukio, Koski)
- Helmi Soininvaara (Ressun lukio, Helsinki)
- Toni Takala (Etelä-Tapiolan lukio, Espoo)
- Albert Ulenius (Ålands lyceum, Mariehamn).
Additional information
Elina Antila, Head of Communications, FINE
tel +358 40 548 3838
Kirsi Ruhanen, Executive Director, HYOL
tel +358 44 303 1789