Finland has a strong system of unions. Labor costs are high because of this. The cost of raw materials is also high. Finland's has many forests, its main export is lumber. Because of its climate and location, Finland has very few natural resources and must import many things, which drives the cost up. Finland uses a free market economy as we do here.

Most people live in apartments as opposed to the private housing we have here in the United States. This type of living was established during the communist or proletarian era. Even though the land is rich in forestry, the cost of labor is prohibitive, as well as is all other raw materials required to build a house. Everything must be imported from nails to textiles to shingles. Here in the United States we take many things for granted. We have numerous manufacturing companies here and our natural resources are abounding.

Socialism is responsible for the high education standards in Finland. A child is tested and from this testing it is determined the choices of fields of work that he/she will be most suited for person just can't say he wants to be a doctor, he must prove his intellectual ability through testing, before he can go to college to pursue his career.

Finland imports many raw materials, including all the raw materials for its booming technology field. The electronic technologies field in Finland create a large export business. Nokia cellular phones come from Finland, and are named for the small town in Finland where they were first made.

Food supplies cost a little more than here in the United States. They belong to the European common market. Most of their vegetables come from Southern Europe, as their growing season is very short, but there supermarkets and the products available are comparable to what we have here.