“Whatever it takes”: What was really the fiscal policy response in 2020?

The fiscal policy response to the COVID crisis in 2020 has been described as a "whatever it takes" policy: shoring up the economy regardless of the cost to public finances. For the seven largest OECD countries and for the euro zone as a whole, we look at: What was the actual fiscal policy response in 2020 to the loss of GDP; where was there actually a “whatever it takes” policy ? This policy (an unlimited fiscal policy response) can be seen in the United States, the United Kingdom, Germany and Japan, but not in France, Spain or Italy; What one can think of the effectiveness of the fiscal policy response, by examining trends in household incomes and corporate earnings (and therefore equity). Countries where the fiscal policy response was weaker than the loss of GDP inevitably incurred a loss of household or corporate income, or both.