Struggling Finland Is Trying to Cut Wages Without Causing a Riot

At the height of the European sovereign debt crisis, internal devaluation -- economists’ jargon for "cutting wages" -- was the recipe of choice for addressing the woes of the euro zone’s periphery.

Several years on, governments with a view of the Mediterranean or the Atlantic have tried to boost competitiveness with mixed results. Crucially, those efforts have come at a high political price. Just ask the leaders of mainstream parties in Greece, Spain Portugal or Italy.