The response of the eurozone to the debt problem has been to enforce austerity in the form of cuts in government spending and increases in taxes. That has been successful in reducing the size of the deficits in the peripheral countries. The policy for regaining competitiveness has focused on so-called internal devaluation, whereby the peripheral countries force their inflation rates to low levels. Deflation – that is to say, falling prices – if it occurs, would simply be a continuation of this policy. The faster prices fall, the sooner the affected countries will return to full competitiveness.