An additional reason to work for longer and save more is that the rise in the capital stock relative to labour implies a lower return to capital and higher wages paid to labour. BIS central bankers’ speeches  7  providing additional services, it can still be used productively in more capital intensive industries.
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.