Page 12 - ITAtube Journal 2 2022

Market information
to counteract this massively by increasing the key interest rate; it has already imple- mented two interest rate hikes. Apart from possible further negative consequences for the economy and the labour market, it will certainly take a while before measures are taken to curb inflation. In recent days, the US administration has even tried to modify the European sanction plans against Rus- sia’s oil and gas supplies so that no further supply shortages and price-driving supply restrictions of oil and gas will result. The US government is also working on the difficult task easing sanctions against Venezuela and Iran in order to increase the supply of oil.
In Europe, inflation has already risen to 7.4%. However, inflation rates vary widely and clearly reflect the dependence on fossil energy with world market prices as well as on alternative energy sources. Countries with a higher share of non-fossil energy sources such as Norway with 5.4% due to
a high share of wind and water energy and
France 4.8% due to a high share of nuclear energy are much less affected by inflation than countries with a high share of fossil energy, such as Estonia with 18.8% or the Czech Republic with 14.2%. For reference, the Russian inflation rate reached already 18,8%. Geopolitical dependencies as well as their energy supply shortfall risks have an additional price-driving effect. Many econ- omies are currently examining the extent to which the energy self-sufficiency share can be expanded more quickly. In addi- tion to the more conventional alternative energy generation with hydropower, wind power or solar energy, energy sources such as shale gas, nuclear fuels and hydrogen are increasingly in focus. The European Central Bank is much more reluctant than the US Fed to raise interest rates to curb inflation. The high indebtedness of some European countries and the high financial burden that interest rate hikes would mean for these countries, certainly explains this restraint. In the long run, however, Europe