That part of government policy which is concerned with raising revenue through taxation and with deciding on the amounts and purposes of government spending. Keynesian economic theorists believe that government can, and should, regulate the overall pace of activity in the national economy through fiscal policy, principally by deliberately having government borrow to spend more than it takes in (running a budget deficit ) to increase total demand for goods and services in times of high unemployment and economic slowdown (the deficit being created either by cutting taxes or by increasing spending or both). Similarly, Keynesian theorists would advocate having government spend less than it takes in (running a budget surplus ) to cool down the national economy when too great an expansion of total demand has pushed production to its physical limits and threatens to bring on excessive inflation.

[See also: budget, budget deficit, budget surplus, business cycle, unemployment, investment, recession, tax, taxation]