Hence there seems little empirical question that changes in household net worth cause changes in household spending. To be sure, not every analysis of the link between stock prices and spending comes to the same conclusions as those of the studies I mentioned. Moreover, we certainly do not have a complete understanding of all aspects of this relationship.
Finally, different weather conditions or different numbers and timing of national holidays can create “noise” in measured inflation rates, which would be of only limited economic significance. Looking ahead, there is no reason to expect that such factors would disappear within the euro area. In addition, a number of deeper economic factors may also contribute to short-term divergences of price developments.