Fiscal policy
Government choices on taxes, spending, and borrowing meant to influence employment, distribution, and long-run capacity.
Budgets are the traditional Keynesian lever: stimulus in downturns, restraint when overheating—though politics often runs countercyclical timing. Fiscal policy interacts with monetary policy when large deficits affect interest rates.
Economists in government
Forecasting, scoring legislation, and advising on debt limits brought economists inside legislatures and treasuries—themes treated more fully in topic pages on policy advice.