including Greece, Ireland, Portugal and Spain, in the first decade of EMU. For example, as shownin Table 1, Spain2experienced an inflation rate above the EMU average for 87 consecutive months,between January 2001 and August 2008.As far as the second problem is concerned, the working of a monetary union of course relieson the adoption of a single currency for the member countries. However, persistent inflationdifferentials will cause a systematic depreciation in the real exchange rate for countries withinflation below the EMU average and, on the opposite side, real appreciation for those countrieswith inflation above the EMU average. Hence, other things being equal, the last group of countrieswill experience persistent foreign trade deficits and a growing external debt.3Once again, thissituation has characterized the above mentioned group of countries.