Maija Löyskä from the Etelä-Tapiola upper secondary school in Espoo is the Economic Guru of Finland 2016. Runner-ups were Max Toikka from Helsinki and Tapio Haaga from Lahti. Economic Guru is a yearly competition promoting financial literacy in Finnish upper secondary schools. It has been running since 1997.
This year’s final event took place in Helsinki on 3–4 March. Its ten finalists were selected through a preliminary competition which more than 1,900 students from 116 schools took part in.
The final competition consists of a written and a spoken part. This year the contestants discussed the hypothetical effects of Finland withdrawing from the euro, and debated on a wide range of topics such as the effects of low oil price for the Finnish economy, government ownership in exchange-listed companies, and the revival of economy with large public debt.
Sanni Grahn-Laasonen, Finland’s Minister of Education and Culture, congratulated the finalists via a video greeting. Grahn-Laasonen emphasised the importance of economic knowledge and pointed out that many life skills are based on an understanding of the economy. It is therefore important for teachers to be competent in it. Additional training should be provided for teachers if needed.
The top three contestants received monetary awards of €1000, €500 and €250 euros, and were also awarded with free subscriptions to a financial magazine. The winner’s school received the Economic Guru trophy: an authentic doctoral hat encased in a glass case.
Successful Economic Guru 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.
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 by the Union of Upper Secondary School Students in Finland.
All finalists:
- Edvin Engman (Ålands Lyceum, Mariehamn)
- Tapio Haaga (Lahden yhteiskoulu, Lahti)
- Helmer Haapala (Kerttulin lukio, Turku)
- Risto Kataja (Sammon keskuslukio, Tampere)
- Kaarlo Kohonen (Helsingin Suomalainen Yhteiskoulu, Helsinki)
- Aleksi Löytynoja (Mäkelänrinteen lukio, Helsinki)
- Maija Löyskä (Etelä-Tapiolan lukio, Espoo)
- Max Toikka (Ressun lukio, Helsinki)
- Alexis Vartiainen (Katedralskolan I Åbo, Turku)
- Lauri Vesala (Raision lukio, Raisio).
Additional information
Elina Antila, Head of Communications, FINE
tel +358 40 548 3838
Kirsi Ruhanen, Executive Director, HYOL
tel +358 44 303 1789