Congress plays an important role in combatting recessions and supporting economic growth. The money it sends to families, workers, businesses, and communities softens the toll of recessions. Well-designed fiscal policies boost income and employment for all Americans. Equitable Growth works to improve our understanding of different fiscal policies, including how they can reduce the pain of economic downturns, reduce inequality, and support growth.
Featured Work
Tariff policies in 2025 increased input costs for key U.S. industries, threatening growth and investment
March 24, 2026
March 24, 2026
The Macroeconomic Effects of Tariffs: Evidence From U.S. Historical Data
March 4, 2026
March 4, 2026
What is austerity, and how does it affect the broader U.S. economy?
August 12, 2025
August 12, 2025
Congressional Republicans’ budget bill is the most regressive in at least 40 years
June 25, 2025
June 25, 2025
Factsheet: Is the U.S. economy in a recession, and how does recession dating work?
August 10, 2022
August 10, 2022
Explore Content in Fiscal Policy162
When will everyone who wants to work have a job in the United States?
February 20, 2020
February 20, 2020
A modest tax reform proposal to roll back federal tax policy to 1997
February 18, 2020
February 18, 2020
Good U.S. monetary policy can’t fix bad U.S. fiscal policy
February 18, 2020
February 18, 2020
Fighting the next recession in the United States with law and regulation, not just fiscal and monetary policies
February 18, 2020
February 18, 2020
Race and the lack of intergenerational economic mobility in the United States
February 18, 2020
February 18, 2020
Great Recession’s ‘lost generation’ shows importance of policies to ease next downturn
December 10, 2019
December 10, 2019
Perceived fiscal space and the case for automatic stabilizers
July 22, 2019
July 22, 2019
When the next recession hits, how will fiscal stimulus affect government debt sustainability?
August 31, 2017
August 31, 2017
What kind of fiscal policy works best at the zero lower bound?
March 23, 2017
March 23, 2017
Fiscal policy stabilization: Purchases or transfers?
March 14, 2017
March 14, 2017
Functional finance vs. conventional finance: What’s really at stake?
November 1, 2016
November 1, 2016
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