fiscal policy is considered any changes the government makes to the national budget in order to influence a nation's economy. the approach to economic policy in the united states was rather laissez-faire until the great depression. the government tried to stay away from economic matters as much as possible and hoped that a balanced budget would be maintained. prior to the great depression, the economy did have economic downturns and some were quite severe. however, the economy tended to self-correct so the laissez faire approach to the economy tended to work.