Throughout most of the post-World War II period, productivity growth in Europe exceeded that in the United States, at first because of the rapid gains during the postwar reconstruction and then later because of a gradual convergence of European technology and business practices to American standards.
Firstly, the adjustment was supported by the fact that price dynamics in Germany have been more moderate than in most other EMU countries. On average the German HICP was 1 %-point lower than the average HICP of the other member states of the monetary union. This led to a cumulated price advantage of 8.5 % since 1999.