Why do economies go into recession, and what should policymakers do? How do governments use money to influence the economy? Over the past century governments have used a variety of strategies to avoid economic instability, and the current economic crisis has been handled very differently from the Great Depression, the last comparable global downturn. Getting the balance right - between government spending and taxation, low inflation and low unemployment, low interest rates for borrowers and rewards for savers - is difficult in practice, and the subject of ongoing debate in economic theory. In this collection, leading economists briefly summarise their views on fiscal responsibility and competing approaches to monetary policy. The material in this collection relates to DD209 - Running the economy