Macroeconomic stability  Besides helping in confronting the financial crisis, there is ample evidence that EMU has also favoured greater resilience of the euro area economy to adverse real shocks. One crucial aspect in this respect is the high credibility of monetary policy that the ECB inherited from the best traditions of the constituent currencies.
A clear cut example is provided by the experience with increases in the prices of energy and raw materials. Blanchard and Galì, among others, have shown that the adverse effects of oil price shocks on the economies have become significantly less severe than it used to be in the past.