Writer and former CEO of Nokia spares no words when criticising haplessness of politicians

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By Jouni Tervo
     
      Kalle Isokallio, an author and a former CEO of Nokia, writes today’s most sarcastic columns at Kalkhas, a one-man firm behind a wrought-iron gate in the inner courtyard of an Art Nouveau building in downtown Helsinki.
      The word Calchas has its origins in Greek mythology, but according to islanders in the Finnish archipelago, ”kalk(h)as” means a male eider. It is portrayed as the most masculine bird in the universe, which leaves the female alone to lay eggs and sit on them, while the male himself flies to outlying rocks to enjoy a sense of freedom and irresponsibility.
      A certain kalkhas-like atmosphere about the small office cannot be denied. The aroma of an expensive cigar is wafting through already at the front door. An electric guitar is lying beside the desk, while a keyboard rests on the floor in the middle of the office.
     
Isokallio appears to be content with his personal daycare nursery, which is how he describes his office. There he can do whatever he feels like doing. He has frequently felt like rocking the consensus boat.
      Even though many people still regard Isokallio as a business executive, he has not been a corporate boss for some twenty years.
      After having been ousted by the Nokia board of directors and having failed in the banking business, Kalle Isokallio became a social writer, a solitary ”kalkhas” on the outlying rocks of economic life.
     
Isokallio spares no words when he is criticizing the way of the world.
      Political decision-makers and influential persons in economic life all get their share. Some of them are Isokallio’s former and current friends.
      Isokallio’s columns can be found on the website of his firm Kalkhas, see below.
      ”The writing of columns got started when an editor-in-chief I know said that surely journalists write columns, but instead of one column with a certain angle there should be 52 different columns in a year”, Isokallio reports.
      To be honest, Isokallio’s range of columns is no better than anyone else’s. It is true that he writes 52 columns, but the subject of almost all of them is the hapless efforts of the politicians.
     
”New topics emerge when politicians start tackling economic issues. Think of all this talk of revival measures. In other countries people discuss how to speed up economic activity by helping those enterprises that are on a sound basis, but here politicians go on and on about revival. Finns have forgotten the original meaning of the word: to restore the dead to life”, Isokallio argues.
      Because numbers are easy for Isokallio, he takes an interest in finances - and he always will.
      When Prime Minister Matti Vanhanen proposed a 10-billion public investment programme, everybody took to praising it.
     
”The Prime Minister may be legally competent, even though there was no sense in his proposal. But even the editor-in-chief of Helsingin Sanomat forgot that in a period of five years, a sum of ten billions presupposes an annual raise of 14 per cent in income taxes. Where do we take such money from?” Isokallio wondered.
      Because of his business and millionaire background, Isokallio could easily be labelled as a mannequin of market economy. However, a closer look at his texts shows that his opinions vary from side to side.
      Isokallio has been called Finland’s last ideological Social Democrat, even the last genuine communist.
      The definitions made by MEP Lasse Lehtinen and writer Outi Nyytäjä are good enough for Isokallio, who clearly enjoys the attention he has attracted.
      ”I get plenty of online feedback from readers, but as it is mostly anonymous it cannot be taken seriously. I read all messages sent by people who have identified themselves. Once I got a message from the Minister of Finance, inviting me for a morning coffee. I accepted the offer”, Isokallio reported.
     
At his day care nursery, Isokallio writes one column a week and a novel every year. His books are different from his columns; light picaresque novels. He himself calls them social satires.
      Isokallio’s books have sold some 4,000 to 8,000 volumes, which is quite a lot considering the Finnish circumstances.
      ”Nobody regards me as a writer. My title on the tax card continues to be diplomi-insinööri (”Master of Science in Engineering”)”, says Isokallio, who has written 11 novels so far.
      Isokallio sent his application to the Union of Finnish Writers at the suggestion of the late writer and translator Jarkko Laine, but was accepted only when Laine’s colleague Kirsi Kunnas also supported him at a meeting of the Board of Directors.
     
Isokallio turned 60 last May, but he entered the unemployment pathway to retirement already in 1992, when he was forced to leave Nokia prematurely.
      His resentment at being tipped out was somewhat reduced by the golden handshake - a subject which Isokallio is unwilling to discuss even today.
      In the past, it was rumoured that Nokia paid him a total of FIM 20 million in monthly instalments of FIM 47,000 (almost EUR 8,000).
      Isokallio denies the size of the severance pay, but since the dismissal he has been able to do and say whatever he wishes.
     
Is freedom of speech a question of money?
      ”No it is not. The freedom of speech is the same for everyone, but people are forced to exercise different restraints. If their source of income is at risk or they fear that their social acceptability could weaken, they are sure to think carefully of what they say”, Isokallio argues.
      Even though he no longer has access to power, Isokallio has not lost his friends.
      ”Good debates emerge, and if a column is logical and its arguments are intelligent, people feel like discussing it. It would be much more boring if they just praised my texts”, Isokallio continued.
     
Isokallio is not afraid to speak against his own interests, if he feels that an issue is socially important.
      ”An example of such issues is the harmonisation of taxation on capital and income taxation. It would be a bad solution for me, but it would be beneficial to Finnish society”, Isokallio declares.
      When we part company, Isokallio admits to knowing that in Greek mythology Calchas the Oracle was famous for his wrong prophecies.
      ”Fortunately, I did not know that when I registered the name of my company”, Isokallio laughs.
     
     
Helsingin Sanomat / First published in print 30.1.2009

More on this subject:
 COMMENT: Rich people can afford opinions

Previously in HS International Edition:
  Hard-nosed corporate bosses morph into gentle doting grandparents (14.11.2006)

Links:
  Kalkhas Oy (in Finnish)
  Union of Finnish Writers

Helsingin Sanomat