The establishment of the European Economic and Monetary Union is a decisive step of the European Union toward further integration. The introduction of the common currency is bound to enhance the competition effects engendered by the Single Market. The introduction of the common currency is an...

Preparations for introducing the euro as a cash currency were taken in a period of relatively high inflation rates, and people were worried that the new currency would be used to raise prices. A preliminary assessment of the extent to which the euro launch affects price levels, however, found no...

Over the last two decades the development of consumer prices, of energy prices in particular, was heavily influenced by three events: the first oil price shock of 1973/74, the second oil price shock of 1979/80, and the collapse of prices of crude oil in the course of the year 1986. The wide...

Detailed comparisons with Germany and Switzerland as well as an analysis of the time pattern of sub-indices of the Consumer Price Index do not indicate that the introduction of the euro had strong inflationary impact. In some sectors, however, there were price increases which may be related to...

An international comparison of hourly compensation costs for production workers in manufacturing exhibits large differences. In the richest industrialised countries such as West Germany, Switzerland, and Sweden hourly compensation costs are about ten times as high as in newly industrialising...

Austria's accession to the EU was widely expected to bring about immediate reductions in many prices. Though food prices have fallen, the reductions have turned out to be smaller than expected, and the drop in the inflation rate was disappointingly small. It is still too early, however, to...

The consumer price index is a cost-of-living index and measures the development of the living standard of households, but is sometimes, in tandem with other indicators, also used to characterise the cyclical phase of the economy. Here, caution is indicated.