the financial and business services sector. one explanation may be that in periods of uncertainty the large well - known enterprises with good ratings continue to attract funds at favourable conditions and may then channel funds to smaller enterprises via intercompany loans or via trade credits. it would, of course, be useful to compare productivity developments in a wider range of sectors in the euro area with those of the united states. but this is not yet possible, as quarterly productivity developments are not produced at the same sectoral breakdown in the us. ( the us disaggregates only to the non - farm business sector and the manufacturing sector. ) the main comparable indicators used for fiscal policy analysis are the general government deficit, expenditure and debt. harmonised deficit figures show strong deficit deterioration in the euro area and in the us for the last two years. these were driven by sharp declines in tax revenues as well as expansionary fiscal policies. japan 6 displayed a deficit between 6 and 8 % of gdp for most of the early 2000s as a consequence of the japanese crises in the 1990s, with some improvement for the period 2006 – 2008. in 2009, the fiscal outlook deteriorated again with an estimated deficit of around 7 % of gdp. 7 again, a direct comparison is not possible without adjustments, 8 due to methodological differences in their compilation. 9 the expenditure - to - gdp ratio 10 indicates the size of the government sector. comparable figures show a convergence of expenditure levels in the us and japan, at around 37 % of gdp. the relative importance of the government sector in the euro area is much higher, with a current expenditure ratio just above 50 % of gdp. when interpreting these figures, an important caveat concerns the institutional differences between the social security of the countries. mandatory private insurance schemes for pensions, unemployment or health care reduce the headline figures for government expenditure in the us. state contributions to compensate for households ’ voluntary payments into social security funds increase government expenditure in the euro area. comparable figures show an increase in the debt - to - gdp ratio 11 between 2007 and 2009 in the euro area and the us, amounting to 12. 8 percentage points and 19. 2 percentage points respectively. in japan, the government debt ratio stood at 162. 2 % 12 of gdp in 2008 after rising more than 40 percentage points in the last decade. this is due to the accumulation of high deficits and low gdp growth. it is straightforward to compile government data for japan according to the european definition on the basis of

jurgen stark : contributions of central bank statistics in a global context speech by mr jurgen stark, member of the executive board of the european central bank, at the world statistics day, frankfurt am main, 20 october 2010. * * * ladies and gentlemen, the global crisis has demonstrated that high quality statistics are essential. the crisis underscored the need for statistics to keep pace with changes in the financial landscape. these changes can transform the nature of financial intermediation and the transmission of macro - financial shocks in the economy. let me give you a few flashlights of how the global harmonisation of statistical concepts would support higher quality analysis. global inflation rates have rebounded from their bottom, but they have remained subdued. however, these measures of inflation are not fully comparable. data for the euro area and the uk ( as for the whole european union ) refer to the harmonised indices of consumer prices ( hicps ) calculated according to a harmonised methodology and a single set of definitions. the us and japan headline rates of inflation refer to their national ways of compiling consumer price inflation. 1 both countries also compile a price index that comes closer to the european harmonised indices of consumer prices. one of the main differences between the two types of indices is the treatment of owner occupied housing costs. 2 the hicp does not cover the expenditure for buying a house or a flat, as it is methodologically very demanding to agree on one method given the different national circumstances. data collection is complex and some argue that buying a house is an investment rather than consumption. both the headline inflation measure in the us, as well as in japan, do include a measure of owner occupied housing. comparing the euro area hicp ( 1. 6 % for august ) with the us cpi ( 1. 1 % ), it appears that inflation is lower in the us. taking the harmonised measure, the hicp, us inflation was higher ( 1. 9 % ). i emphasis here that harmonisation for international comparability needs to be weighed against the specific needs for policy makers. the hicp provides the best measure for comparisons of consumer price inflation and for assessing price convergence and stability for the purpose of monetary policy – the hicp is hence used to measure the success of the ecb ’ s aim to achieve price stability. excessive debt and leverage have been at the core of the financial crisis. this slide shows household debt levels in the us, the uk and the euro area, taken from financial accounts