Thanks to the good performance of profits, in the United States and the euro area the ratio of share prices to earnings, declining since March 2002, has fallen further and is basically back in line with the long-term levels.
The results from the first wave of the survey were published last April, and the microdata were made available to researchers interested in their use. The conference programme is a testimony to the potential that the HFCS has to enhance our understanding of the economic behaviour of individual households. Let me explain why the ECB decided to embark on this complex project.