Should consumers buy items they don't really need? Scholars analyze how fiscal policy determines spending at a national level. The final podcast of a 21-part economic series discusses the role the federal government plays in using...

A country with high recessionary and inflationary gaps has several options to stimulate growth. A video focused on fiscal policy inspires young economists to explore the ways a government can influence, regulate, and stabilize (or...

Get the full scoop on John Maynard Keynes and the origins of his incredible influence on macroeconomics and the role of government. British economist Robert Skidelsky offers unique insight into Keynesian economics and its fundamental...

What can microeconomics students expect to learn about when it comes to a unit on market failures and the role of the government? Introduce your young economists to the why and how of free market failures and how the government...

Opt out of another dry economics lesson with this crazy video featuring a performance and rap song about the contributions and theories of economists Friedrich Hayek and John Maynard Keynes. The primary topic of focus is a boom...

How does the math work behind cutting taxes to close a recessionary gap? Here an economics instructor walks viewers through the step-by-step process of working with the spending multiplier to calculate changes in taxes and closing...

Where does the long run aggregate supply curve in graphs of an inflationary and recessionary gap? Check out this video for instruction on this process, as well as to learn about the motivations behind monetary and fiscal policy in...

The Federal Reserve System is explained in this two-part video. The history of the Reserve System and its influence on the economy is described. This clip is very clear and uses graphs to help describe the principals of the Federal...

In this episode we learn how government use taxes and spending influence the economy. Sometimes the government gives, and sometimes it takes. And the giving and the taking can have a profound effect on how economies behave. [11:54]

A bit more in-depth analysis when thinking about the fiscal cliff.

Check out how a change in fiscal policy shifts the IS curve. [7:09]

How government can effect aggregate demand through tax policy.

In addition to discretionary fiscal policy, there are policies and institutions that can help reduce swings in the business cycle. This video discusses the role of automatic stabilizers in the business cycle. [5:15]

This video explains how fiscal policy can be used to close output gaps. Fiscal policy means using either taxes or government spending to stabilize the economy. Expansionary fiscal policy can close recessionary gaps and contractionary...

In previous lessons, we've learned how expansionary monetary policy and expansionary fiscal policy can be used to mitigate a recession, but they don't have to be used in isolation from each other. Learn what happens when they are used at...

Sal Khan demonstrates how a change in fiscal policy shifts the IS curve. [7:08]

Explains how government can effect aggregate demand through tax policy.