IN FISCAL AND MONETARY POLICY (ENTALISM Government economic policy is decisions primarily through its scal policies- decision about the money supply and interest rates. its monetary its argely in annual and deficit levels Ace of Management and federal budget determined bills Budget and in annual president of ar spending and revisions of the tax laws. These of mine with tax levels, as as spending priorities determine ap- the size of the federal government's these spending decisions deter programs: federal overall deficits. policy decisions (see among (Federal have exceeded federal revenues every year since 1960.) Monetary policy is deter- mined the independent Federal Reserve Board the which can expand or contract the money through its oversight of the nation's banks. a If economic policymaking were completely rational, it would be closely tied to coherent economic theory. The goals of economic policy are widely shared growth in economic output and standards of living, full and productive employment of the nation's workforce, and stable prices with low inflation. But a variety of eco- nomic theories compete for preeminence as ways to achieve these goals. From time to time, national economic policy has been guided by different theories; or worse, t has been guided by conflicting theories simultaneously.