Book review: Petra Vallila explores unsustainable economic growth with rare sensitivity

Petra Vallila’s second poetry collection takes hold of Adam Smith’s invisible hand and brings together melancholy and economic buzz.

The author, born in eastern Helsinki, was nominated for the Helsingin Sanomat literary prize in 2022 for her debut work, “Maybe.” Her new collection turns to an unlikely poetic subject: the economist Adam Smith.

“I have never before read a poetry book about the economist Adam Smith,” the review says.

Smith is known for the metaphor of the invisible hand. In the theory, individuals pursuing their own interests in free markets ultimately create a shared benefit. The hand guides the economy toward balance without outside interference.

Smith has often been called the father of modern capitalism. Vallila’s poetry engages with that legacy while holding its economic energy alongside a more wistful mood.

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I have never before read a poetry book about the economist Adam Smith.