Keynesian demand management relied on governments' abilities to stimulate demand through public works programmes and the expansion of state employment. the overall level of spending, and where it is targeted, continues to be viewed as a tool of macroeconomic policy, albeit not always from within a Keynesin paradigm. Fairly obviously, government fiscal priorities continue to have strong effects on the macro economy, with a extreme example of this coming from the wave of inflation in the USA that followed major spending on the Vietnam War paid for through increasing budget deficits rather than increased taxes (Heidenheimer et al., 1990: 132). Governments may also explicitly use their spending powers as tools to affect the macroeconomy in times of crisis. An example of this comes from Australia, where the government gave almost everyone, other than the very richest adults, a cheque for AU$9,000 in 2008, to spend as they wished to boost the domestic economy.