Subject(s): Economic policy -- Political planning -- Social policy -- United States. -- Policy sciences -- Rational expectations (Economic theory) -- Politics and government -- Public Policy - limits and possibilities : Economic interacts with politics, conceptual apparatus -- Macroeconomics- can government control the economy Partisan incentives and political cycles, monetary policy, fiscal policy, exhortation, equilibrium selection, tax, budget deficits as policy instruments, government control the economy -- Redistribution : Economic constraints and redistribution, uncertainty, government commitment to future redistribution, effectiveness of redistribution policy -- Government regulation : Regulating firms, consumer behaviour -- Producing goods and services- Getting the right mix : Crowding out private provision, credibility - inducing and restricting production -- Economic constraints and political institutions : Divided government and politics of gridlock, federalism and devolution of authority, political and policy reforms, institutional design and policy effectiveness