[Skybird]

In Germany, prices went up, but in the first year not to that ammount as you mentioned.

When the Euro came, I was working in a department store, and so saw first hand that with many, but not all products, prices climbed, sometimes considerably. They were raised, or were rounded up, or stayed the same but had been risen in advance, two months earlier, etc.

As a private consumer who is neither poor nor rich, I know that there are many items of everyday life where now the same number is followed no longer by the DM-sign, but the €-sign, which means a doubling of the price (exchange rate is almost precisely 2DM=1€. These effects only for some things (foods) can be explained by inflation, and price developements that had nothing to do with Euro introduction.

Statistics on price developement must not mean anything. The pro euro governments of course want to give the impression that with the Euro everything became better, nothing became worse, and the Euro is not responsible for anything negative. However, such price statistics stand and fall with the quality of the index of items whose price changes get included in the calculation, and how they are weighted. If you shift the evalutionbias towards things with traditional high price stability like rents for appartements and fees for official services, and do not include items with high price fluctuation or keep them at a non-representational level, you can easily give the impression that prices are stable even if the average consumer finds himself spending 40% more money on food and everyday items. In Germany, we call this the so-called "Warenkorb", and since many years it is under massive attack by critics who attack the government for distorting statistics by incompetent (or intentional?) composition of included product categories. I agree with those saying that the German official price statistics by the ministry are almost worthless and extremely untrustworthy. So, officially the Euro has done no negative effect in germany, but every household where consumers must pay attention to their money, knew after one year that things had become more expensive, and significantly so, by 25-35% after one year. that was long before the raise in food prices due to food shortages and food speculations, and the oil crisis.

So, yes, the Euro has made life more expensive. Catering trade and retail trade accepted "Mitnahmeeffekte", sometimes hidden, sometimes unhidden. Theoretically, where before I spend lets say 100 DM over one week, for all living costs, 50 euros should have worked. But after one year I already saw myself spending maybe one third more - one third at least, but not buying more. today, I spend considerably more, and buy slightly less. I spend almost the same money by number per week, just in a different currency. Which means that since euro arrival, living costs have almost doubled. I exclude heating oil, car petrol, and include food, articles from the drugstore, and the small things of everyday life you need to run your household. I used to visit a Chinese and an Italian restaurant at times. I don't anymore.

It is not rare that you witness people in shops wondering that they now spend the same price (by number) for a given item - just not in DM, but in Euros.

From my time in the store I know that we had many British and Dutch customers (Muenster is traditionally a shopping target for Dutch tourists especially at weekends, and it is close to the border). By Dutch comments I must conclude that their prices raised even more, since many said that things had become more expensive in dear old Germany - but not to the ammount as in Holland. But I cannot judge that from own experience, of course, so I give this feedback with caution.