By Months: Jaak Valge

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Advocates for a shift in economic policy thinking, moving away from low-wage jobs and mass immigration toward jobs with higher added value. It argues that mass immigration lowers productivity (which has fallen from 84% to 78% of the EU average) and stagnates wage growth. It believes that the state's goal cannot be the creation of cheap jobs and that prison jobs divert people away from the needs of national defense and law enforcement.

The speaker is strongly opposed to expansive growth and increasing the total number of jobs, emphasizing the necessity of reducing positions while boosting their added value and productivity. He criticizes the government's policies, which, according to OECD data, have resulted in a decline in both productivity and competitiveness. He views the current migration policy as an attempt to import cheap labor rather than attracting highly skilled specialists.

The speaker is a strong proponent of the market economy, who opposes government intervention in the labor market through the importation of cheap foreign labor, arguing that this violates the principles of the market economy and stifles wage growth and innovation. He calls for the economy to be directed toward high value-added sectors and productivity growth, rather than the creation of low-wage jobs. He supports Jaak Aaviksoo’s position that foreign workers should not be brought in until productivity has reached the EU average level.

The economic viewpoints are strongly deregulatory, emphasizing that over-regulation undermines competitiveness. They favor meritocracy and selection based on competence for corporate governing bodies, opposing the introduction of criteria that impede the organic development of success.

He is vehemently opposed to importing cheap labor, arguing that it depresses the wage levels of Estonians and obstructs economic innovation, causing Estonia to fall behind its neighbors in productivity. He advocates for reorienting the economy toward creating high value-added and knowledge-intensive jobs, citing zero-immigration countries like Taiwan and Singapore as positive examples.

Economic perspectives are critical of the immense wealth generated through financial transactions and speculation that is unrelated to the production of goods necessary for society. There is a demand for the state's tax ideology to be adjusted to these new conditions, supporting the implementation of a bank tax and increasing accountability to society. It is proposed that the excess profits of foreign banks (1.1 billion euros) be utilized to support the birth rate.

Economic views are linked to the defense of sovereignty, specifically by opposing massive projects—led by foreign investors from Norway, the Netherlands, England, and France—that are deemed neocolonialist. In the social sector, he/she criticizes the government for cutting support payments for large families, failing to index family benefits, and refusing to cancel student loans for students who become parents.