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...