Once Again Let’s consider a system (a country) into which money can be added two ways; by taking debt or from exports and investments for which the revenue comes from foreign sources. The money flows out from the system e.g. through imported goods and services. Any domestic consumption is ultimately generated thanks to the before mentioned sources and possible savings. A specific consumption within the system means less spending on other goods or services. If we for example decide to prefer activities and branches of business that have bigger potential to create value added through international trade, we are actually increasing our opportunity to maintain or increase our standard of living. If we instead decide to prefer only activities that do not have the potential to succeed in an international environment, we easily end up losing our welfare and competitiveness: The amount money circulating within the system gradually decreases. If we take look at our position from international perspective, the strengths include high education. The so called law of supply and demand highlights the potential of creation of value added through rarity of resources. There are also other things ,such as the existence and type of markets that will affect the price of a resource. The development of technologies is increasing the standard of living in worldwide perspective. The development of technology also makes information increasingly available to people around the world and it eases international trade. It also decreases the amount of work that can be easily described and so automated. The consequence of the development will possibly be e.g. increased competition for knowledge and skills and fastening technology lifecycles. Salary level can be a noteworthy issue for international competition in a situation where the prices of products or services are largely dependent on wages. The value added created by e.g. manufacturing and so related wages have been decreasing for decades e.g. due to international competition and automation. In domestic environment, lower wages enable us to provide e.g. labor intensive services with lesser cost. Again: There are few things that should be taken into consideration; many of the services will most likely be automated and by trying to effect the cost of labor artificially we might actually hinder the development by lowering the incentive to find more sustainable solutions through new technologies. The other issue to consider is that by binding bigger share of human resources in domestic activities we easily weaken the opportunities succeed in international trade. In addition; any negotiations that may affect the market conditions in a larger scale may affect the stock market and operational abilities of companies. So, it is pretty much up to us whether we wish to compete in an area the we have the advantage in and a potential to succeed, or if we want to try our success in a branch within which the competence is fierce, availability of resources exceeds the demand, and which is already on its way towards automation and commoditization due to pressure created by leaning profits. ​ ​ Johanna Sandman Published: 31.8.2016 11:43