My Academic Journey

I want sincerely thank The OP Group Research Foundation for supporting my desired research topic! The grant distribution occasion was full of warmth. OP is proud of having given a grant to the only Finnish Nobelist in economics and encouraged us to aim high. I am also very thankful to know that the research plan has been read by two to three other specialists than my supervisor and that they found it promising. In the uncertain world of PhD fellow, that means a lot.  Another big joy is the joy for all of our full-time econ PhD students . Saara Vaahtoniemi and Jari-Mikko Meriläinen who each got a grant for one year of research.  Team Econ Vaasa: Meriläinen, Vaahtoniemi & Eklund Worth mentioning is a person who has inspired many (and 100% of Team Econ Vaasa) to study economics, Matti Pohjola, who held a speak at the event thanking OP for being very responsible in financing research when the government is doing the opposite. Indeed, the concept of OP group research...

The spring is turning into summer and my calendar is happily filled with work trips. Today, I went to Otaniemi that is in Espoo (a city by the side of Helsinki). We had our project group meeting at the office building of VTT that is also coordinating our project. Additionally, Carter was present through Skype. It was good to have many members of the research team sitting by "the same table". Even though, I woke a 2.5 hours earlier than I'm used to, I manage to do a lot of work during the travel from Vaasa to Helsinki. Which is crucial for the next week's conference. From Helsinki, I then took a bus to Otaniemi.  After the meeting, I got a ride to Ruoholahti, Helsinki, from where I walked to the station. It is always a pleasure to visit Helsinki, my old home city. It has developed so much during the time I have lived in Vaasa (soon 6 years). Helsinki is more international than it used to be. The city is also more and more like Stockholm and other notable ...

On Monday, I started mentally preparing for the early wake up today. On Wednesday, I went to body balance at 7:30 am (- and I was late). Today, the train left at 7:00 am (and I made it). It was the same train that I took sometimes to the core courses of FDPE (Finnish Doctoral Program in Economics) , held in Helsinki. My visitor card at the Statistics of Finland.  Today’s schedule looks busy: afternoon goes to a project meeting about the data contraction. I expect to be back in Vaasa at 9 pm after which I have a meeting with my friends to whom I have promised to make a small discussion outline about (personal) savings. That’s a subject that I could write a lot about. 1) Finnish people should save more as my generation cannot trust to have the state paid pension. 2) How nicely the savings accumulate into a fortune if you start saving early (historical perspective) and 3) there are awesome stories about how people have retired early or how people are saving for it. ...

Uusi lukukausi on täysin korkattu. Eilen aloittelimme mikron parissa ja tänään lämmittelimme makrotaloustieteessä. Mikro vaikuttaa ainakin minulle haastavammalta, mitä ei olisi uskonut maisteriopintojen perusteella. Makro sen sijaan vaikuttaa oikein viihdyttävältä - ainakin luennoiltaan. Tunnelmat olivat kuitenkin aivan toiset, kun pääsin Rikhardinkadun kirjastolle ja aloin katsoa materiaaleja läpi. Siellä abien keskellä tulee herkästi mietittyä, että miten tässä nyt näin kävi, täällä taas. Ehdotuksia muista potentiaalisista hiljaisista lukupaikoista keskustassa otetaan vastaan!:)  Tänään tuntui ensimmäistä kertaa siltä, ettei näistä kursseista ole turhaa kuultu pelottelua muutaman viimeisen vuoden aikana.yliopistokuplan ulkopuolella voisi olla helpompaa, mutta oppiikohan siellä yhtä paljon.. Ainakin tervetulopuheesta jäi mieleen kaksi erityisen kannustavaa sanontaa: 1. Et ole yksin, kato ympärillesi (meitä on yli 30 uutta taloustieteen jatko-opiskelijaa Suomessa, kaik...