Fiscalism is a term sometimes used to refer the economic theory that the government should rely on fiscal policy as the main instrument of macroeconomic policy. Fiscalism in this sense is contrasted with monetarism, which is associated with reliance on monetary policy. Fiscalists reject monetarism in a non-convertible floating rate system as inefficient if not also ineffective There are two types of fiscalism: Contained fiscalism does not allow the economy to grow or decline as much as possible. Elevated fiscalism does not allow the economy to decline but, it does allow for the economy to grow unrestrained Roots Fiscalism relies heavily on Keynesian theories which states that an active government intervention is necessary to ensure economic growth and stability. For fiscalists, employment is of primary concern. Y (income) is the independent variable in PY = MV (where P = price level, M = amount of money, V = velocity/turnover of money), changes in which affect effective demand. So fiscalists hold that Y needs to be controlled through fiscal policy, which affects effective demand. Effective demand draws forth investment to meet profit opportunity, and effective demand is income-dependent, since consumption cannot be funded by drawing down savings, selling assets, or financed by borrowing sustainably. If supply and demand are stabilized at optimal resource use, they unemployment is reduced. Fiscalism and Modern Monetary Theory The holy grail of macroeconomics is full employment along with price stability, which implies highly efficient use of resources while controlling price level. In the first place, Modern Monetary Theory (MMT) rejects the monetarist explanation virtually in toto, claiming that it is based on an incorrect view of actual operations of the Treasury, central bank, and commercial banking, and how they interact. Secondly, MMT explains how to succeed in the quest for the holy grail through employment of the sectoral balance approach developed by Wynne Godley and functional finance developed by Abba Lerner. The thrust of this approach is to maintain effective demand sufficient for purchase of production (supply) at full employment by offsetting non-government saving desire with the currency issuer's fiscal balance. This stabilizes aggregate demand and aggregate supply at full employment (adjusting aggregate demand wrt changes in population and productivity) without risking inflation arising owing to excessive demand. Note that this does not apply to price level rising due to supply shock, such as an oil crisis provoked by a cartel exerting a monopoly, or shortage