In particular, if we compare Greece and Germany, the two countries, respectively, with thehighest and the lowest inflation rate in the Euro area, we note that the first country exhibitedan average inflation rate of 3.2% while the second had an average inflation of 1.56%. Moreover,Greece was characterized by 150 consecutive months, from 1999:1 to 2011:6, with inflation abovethe average, whereas Germany had 97 consecutive months with an inflation rate below the EMUaverage, between January 1999 and January 2007 (cf. Table 1). Clearly, this wide and persistentinflation differential is, at the same time, an indicator and a source of macroeconomic problems.Some policy implications associated with the presence of persistent inflation differentials arediscussed at length in a recent article by De Haan (2010). The author also provides a survey of2In