A Quick Trip To Tallinn
Yesterday I had the opportunity to chat with students from around the globe who came to Tallinn for a few days excursion. They came as part of an excursion from Helsinki University of Technology, and the event was to give them some orientation about Estonia and its transition. Here are two questions that we addressed. Is the Estonian transition over, or are we going into the next phase? And, how do we assess the transition that we have had?
Before the crash, the above questions might have seemed obvious. Estonia’s sustained economic successes seemed to answer both questions. But then came the crash, and now some underlying and unresolved questions are back on the agenda.
My take — the answers depend on what type of society Estonians want. The good news is that this is our choice now (it is not imposed on us). Some may be satisfied the way things are, and for them the “transition” is over. But that would mean accepting the institutional weaknesses that we still live with. So I am for moving to the next phase. But moving on to question two, unless we are willing to admit our weaknesses (and tone down the Estonian PR machine) we may have difficulty getting there.
What do you think?