"Portugal dared to cast aside austerity" a few paragraphs in: "the gov slashed spending on infrastructure and other programs, shifted some of the money to salaries, pensions, and business incentives, then cut the deficit with the rest"https://www.nytimes.com/2018/07/22/business/portugal-economy-austerity.html …
Depends on how much of the economy is driven by pensioner spending--in Japan for example it's huge (well, retiree--idk how much is due to benefits vs due to savings)