Moving in the opposite direction of a cycle or showing behavior contrary to normal cyclical patterns.
From anti- (against) + cyclic (from cycle, from Greek kyklos, circle, + -ic, adjective suffix). This term appears in economics, meteorology, and chemistry to describe phenomena that buck expected cyclical trends.
In economics, anticyclic government spending means spending more when the economy is shrinking and less when it's booming—the opposite of what naturally happens—which is why it's so hard for politicians to actually do even when economists say it works better.
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