Tallinn. Wikimedia. CC.The Estonian economy faces difficult questions. Although the country has been a model pupil of Brussels for many years now, it is currently mired in stagnation. The recently expressed belief by prime minister Taavi Rõivas that everything should remain as it is does not sound convincing.
When thinking about alternatives, it is their hitherto underestimated social dimension that should be seen as important. The economy is not a thing in itself, and ameliorating it needs social imagination. Citizen´s income (otherwise known as ´guaranteed basic income´) which is currently gaining a lot of ground in Finland should be given more thought in Estonia as well.
An Estonian businessman, Andrei Korobeinik, has recently argued in the Estonian daily newspaper Eesti Päevaleht that the Estonian economy needs painful reforms in order to grow. According to him, we have not kept up with Latvia and Lithuania in undertaking difficult, future oriented reforms. Hence, the two countries set an example for Estonia.
