Since the end of the 1990s, Finland has been acknowledged as an example of a country that has formulated a consensual national response to the global economy. As a result, the political tensions resulting from globalization and European integration are less evident, notably compared with Sweden. In this paper, we discuss conceptualizations and actions related to a consensus on competitiveness from a perspective that emphasizes their historical basis. The example of Finland offers evidence of change in terms of the social state?s institutions being transformed and placed at the service of the new goals of a competitive state. We address Finland as a specific Nordic case, and we ask how this national "us" with regard to competitiveness may be connected with historic notions of Finland as a Nordic society or exemplary of a particular Nordic model.