The U.S. government influences economic growth and stability through the use of fiscal policy (manipulating tax rates and spending programs) and monetary policy (manipulating the amount of money in circulation). ... When the government raises taxes, money moves out of private hands and into government coffers.Over the course of history some governments have attempted to exercise complete control over economic affairs in the interest of accomplishing social or political goals, and other governments have attempted to stay completely out of economic affairs in the belief that economies work best when they are unregulated. Today the roles that most governments play in their national economies fall somewhere between these two extremes.