What? The federal government is in considerable debt. Currently, this is the national debt. The closet the government has ever come to diminishing the debt was in 1835 when the total stood at $38,000!! The Great Depression marked an era of instability in the country's economic history. Since then, it has been the goal of the federal government to stabilize the economy.

One tool the government utilizes is the fiscal policy, which allows the government to use its power to tax and spend to regulate economic activity.