Episode 422 · 2026-11-14 · 1:01:39 · Original in Finnish
Envy Day and Right-Wing Politics | Tere Sammallahti | Neuvottelija 422
Originally published as “Kateuspäivä ja oikeistopolitiikka | Tere Sammallahti | Neuvottelija 422”
National Coalition Party MP Tere Sammallahti and Sami Miettinen go through Finland's annual tax-data release day, which Sammallahti calls Envy Day, and his bill to publish tax data only in anonymised form. They take apart the claim that the rich avoid tax through tricks and ask why a successful Finn still has to apologise. The political core is why the Finns Party is rising while the National Coalition falls, and whether the right-wing bloc can still reach a majority before the 2027 election; Sammallahti admits his party has failed at communication and warns the right against painting itself into separate corners. The episode closes on the threat of a French debt crisis, Finland's used-up fiscal buffer, Google's data centres, Valmet Automotive and AI forcing the public sector to change.
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Key moments
- 00:00 — Episode highlights
- 01:36 — Tere Sammallahti and Envy Day
- 02:22 — A bill on the privacy of tax data
- 03:25 — Sanna Marin and the ritual of apology
- 04:57 — Varusteleka and the happy taxpayers
- 06:28 — Voluntary taxes to the State Treasury
- 07:50 — The tax-trick myth and taxing a company sale
- 09:25 — Unrealised gains and the millionaire tax
- 11:43 — The left's relationship with money and status
- 13:34 — Public spending of 160 billion
- 15:32 — Cuts versus tax rises
- 16:33 — Why the Finns Party rises and the National Coalition falls
- 17:40 — The National Coalition's year of stumbles
- 19:54 — The most National Coalition government programme in history
- 21:40 — The right-wing bloc's majority at risk
- 23:05 — The Centre and the blank ballot
- 25:00 — Fear of a blue-red coalition and game theory
- 27:28 — The Finns Party painted into a corner
- 29:14 — Vote for the person, not the party
- 33:11 — The US midterms and the Republicans
- 34:00 — Spain, Ceuta and political strikes
- 35:20 — The French elections and the threat of a debt crisis
- 36:10 — AI and public-sector Luddism
- 37:53 — Orpo, Google and data centres
- 39:50 — Sipilä's media storm and Garden Helsinki
- 41:37 — Valmet Automotive and the Chinese
- 44:45 — Finnish negativity towards investment
- 45:50 — Ownership, Suunto and jobs
- 48:20 — Finnish-language AI and the tax debate
- 49:30 — Buying education with your own money
- 51:06 — France's budget deficit and Finland's used-up buffer
- 53:41 — The tax wedge and AI's competitive edge
- 55:45 — Stock-option taxation and top talent
- 57:20 — AI democratises for ordinary entrepreneurs
- 59:25 — Grok and offloading cognitive load
- 1:00:11 — Closing and the Inner Circle
Summary
Who he is. Tere Sammallahti is a National Coalition Party (Kokoomus) member of the Finnish parliament for Uusimaa and a long-time Neuvottelija guest.
Envy Day. Sammallahti has filed bill LA 30/2025 vp, which would publish tax data only in anonymised form for researchers. He calls the annual release day a media-driven peeping show. Miettinen argues that the list largely shows people whose wealth fell through tax on a company sale, and Sammallahti rejects the claim that not taxing unrealised gains is tax avoidance.
Spending and taxes. Miettinen puts public spending above €160 billion, close to 60 per cent of GDP (Statistics Finland’s preliminary 2025 ratio is 57.5 per cent). Sammallahti says his party is the only one whose adjustment programme relies entirely on spending cuts, while most parties would raise taxes.
Why the Finns Party rises. Sammallahti lists his party’s stumbles of the year (inheritance tax, STEA grants, Garden Helsinki, Valmet Automotive) and admits it has failed at communication. The bigger problem, he says, is that even a five-party right-of-centre coalition would not reach a majority on current polling, and right-wing parties should not paint themselves into separate corners.
Europe and the buffer. The two discuss the US midterms, Spain’s strikes and France’s choice between Le Pen and Mélenchon. With France’s deficit above 5 per cent of GDP, Sammallahti says Finland is “one black swan away” from catastrophe because its buffer is spent.
Data centres and AI. Sammallahti defends Prime Minister Orpo’s talks with Google over its €13 billion investment and the state’s buyout of CATL’s Valmet Automotive stake. Miettinen discloses that he owns Alphabet shares. The episode ends on the tax wedge between human work and AI, stock-option taxation and AI spreading to ordinary entrepreneurs. The conversation continues in the members’ episode Neuvottelija Sisäpiiri 172.
Watch
The recording lives on the Neuvottelija channel: Kateuspäivä ja oikeistopolitiikka | Tere Sammallahti | Neuvottelija 422. A Finnish edition of this episode is published at www.neuvottelija.fi.
In depth
The Neuvottelija AI editions carry a long-form, fact-checked write-up of this episode: English · suomeksi.
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People and topics
Guests: Tere Sammallahti