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<p>[QUOTE="JBK, post: 1869121, member: 1101"]There is no doubt that the euro was a great thing for Europeans (and tourists, for that matter), but it came with a small cost. I did love the old DM but it was also hard to argue with the euro’s convenience.</p><p> </p><p>I am sure that “perceived inflation” is a real phenomenon, and we do see it here in the US all the time. For example, as has happened recently, when gas prices go up a few cents a gallon everyone notices and complains, but when they drop 5 cents a gallon it somehow gets overlooked. In any case, what I was referring to in Germany was very much real, at least for me. I was looking at the immediate impact of the euro on prices, and in no case did I ever see a price go down as a result of the conversion (with the exception of businesses that raised prices in the months prior to the euro so they could round down after the exchange and still be ahead of the game.) For example, the 6 DM cost of a doner kebap around the corner from my apartment translated to 3.07 euro, but when the changeover came it was priced at 3.50 euro. I felt similar “nickel and dime” hits to my wallet at every turn. At the time, I could easily live on 200 DM a week and have a little left over if I did not go crazy on the weekend. After the conversion, the same amount in euros – 100 euro – never lasted me the entire week. That was ultimately the evidence for me that the euro was costing me more for daily transactions.</p><p> </p><p>As I understood it, the insistence by the government that there was no euro inflation was based on their examination of a pre-determined basket of goods and services. It was heavily weighted with high-end items like a house, car, etc., which did not see any inflation with the introduction of the euro. They finally acknowledged that the impact on lower-end, everyday items was indeed greater. </p><p> </p><p>Of course, you may have had a different experience, and since I was in Munich it is very possible that the local businesses thought the residents had more money to spend and took advantage of the situation.[/QUOTE]</p><p><br /></p>
[QUOTE="JBK, post: 1869121, member: 1101"]There is no doubt that the euro was a great thing for Europeans (and tourists, for that matter), but it came with a small cost. I did love the old DM but it was also hard to argue with the euro’s convenience. I am sure that “perceived inflation” is a real phenomenon, and we do see it here in the US all the time. For example, as has happened recently, when gas prices go up a few cents a gallon everyone notices and complains, but when they drop 5 cents a gallon it somehow gets overlooked. In any case, what I was referring to in Germany was very much real, at least for me. I was looking at the immediate impact of the euro on prices, and in no case did I ever see a price go down as a result of the conversion (with the exception of businesses that raised prices in the months prior to the euro so they could round down after the exchange and still be ahead of the game.) For example, the 6 DM cost of a doner kebap around the corner from my apartment translated to 3.07 euro, but when the changeover came it was priced at 3.50 euro. I felt similar “nickel and dime” hits to my wallet at every turn. At the time, I could easily live on 200 DM a week and have a little left over if I did not go crazy on the weekend. After the conversion, the same amount in euros – 100 euro – never lasted me the entire week. That was ultimately the evidence for me that the euro was costing me more for daily transactions. As I understood it, the insistence by the government that there was no euro inflation was based on their examination of a pre-determined basket of goods and services. It was heavily weighted with high-end items like a house, car, etc., which did not see any inflation with the introduction of the euro. They finally acknowledged that the impact on lower-end, everyday items was indeed greater. Of course, you may have had a different experience, and since I was in Munich it is very possible that the local businesses thought the residents had more money to spend and took advantage of the situation.[/QUOTE]
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