The effect of governmental expenditures on the total economy varies with both the level of utilization of labor and capital in the economy at the time of the expenditure, and the segment of the economy which receives the expenditure. If the economy as a whole or the segment of the economy which is the focus of the expenditure is operating at capacity or close to capacity, then the expenditure’s major effects will tend to be inflationary, and will not generate much employment of capital and labor. If the economy or sector is operating at much less than full employment, the expenditure will produce a genuine (non-inflationary) rise in the GNP.

　　A true measure of the effect of governmental increase in the amount of money made available, then, is not the simple dollar value of the initial injection but the cumulative effect of this injection through spending and re-spending. In the optimum case the initial expansion of income flow could be great enough to produce tax revenues in excess of the original "deficit spending" or the "tax cut", so that deficits are not only smaller than the increased GNP but are recouped. In Keynesian economics the fundamental point of government policy clearly is not budget-balancing but spending in the event of unused productive capacity and unemployment. Spending increases productivity. This productivity resulting from federal spending has overwhelmed the older economic myths of the balanced budget where government is conceived of as just another business firm.

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　　政府支出对于整个经济的影响作用，受到以下两个因素的制约。第一，政府支出之时劳动力和资本的利用情况;第二，接受(政府)支出的经济部分。如果整个经济或接受(政府)支出的经济领域充分地或接近充分地发挥效能，那么政府支出的效果不会很大，所以资本和劳动力也不会得到充分利用。而如果经济潜能并未充分发挥，政府支出则会真正促进GNP的增长。

　　对于政府增加支出而产生的效果，真实的衡量标准并非在于最初的支出数额，而在于这一笔开支经过多次投入而产生的长期效果。 在理想的情况下，最初的收入增长产生的税收会超过最初的“负债投入”或“减免的税收”。这样，赤字不仅小于GNP的增长，而且得到了补偿。凯恩斯的经济学理论认为，政府决策的重点并非在于平衡预算，而在于生产能力没有得到充分发挥，失业率居高不下之时增加支出。 联邦支出可以促进生产能力这一理论使得传统的经济理论受到挑战。这是因为后者认为政府应发挥类似公司的职能，尽力平衡预算。