It acts out of instinct and is primarily a stimulus-response machine with survival as its focus.

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Meanwhile Kaoru Yosano, the new economy minister with a clear sense of what needs to be done to overhaul the country's finances in the face of an ageing population, was ordered to cobble together a fiscal-stimulus package in response to panicky (and probably unfounded) fears that the economy was tipping into a deep recession again.

ECONOMIST: Japan

The improvement is also the expected response to monetary and fiscal stimulus, both of which have been exceptionally aggressive.

ECONOMIST: The economy

Nomura Securities said Friday that they are expecting the Federal Open Market Committee of the bank to ask for further stimulus (as in more QE) in response to fading economic growth and greater downside risks.

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Canongate Classics began as a response to Scotland's shifting cultural climate, and are now a stimulus in their own right.

ECONOMIST: Sir Walter Scott

About the policy response from the Obama administration and the Federal Reserve, Huether notes that the stimulus package produced a beneficial uptick in demand, but its temporary impact has limited the proper distribution of profits that resulted.

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Keynesian economists argue that the correct policy response is to boost government spending (G) through fiscal stimulus, allowing consumers and businesses time to adjust and recover, and to gradually remove that stimulus as the economy returns to its normal growth trajectory.

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