A stagnation scenario would be a replica of Japan's Great Recession of the 1990s at a global level. The driving force behind this scenario would be that deleveraging in the financial sector continues, credit markets remain stalled, and economic activity cannot resume at previous levels, given low confidence among consumers and investors, despite recent policy stimulus efforts. Significant fiscal stimulus efforts tend to be ineffective because of offsetting behavior by consumers and firms. As in Japan in the 1990s, debt repayments put a downward pressure on economic activity (irrespective of low borrowing costs) and encourage higher private savings and a lower appetite for new investment.