In an environment of tepid growth and persistent downside risks, finding ways to enhance fiscal policy's ability to smooth the effect of shocks to economic activity is high on the policy agenda. Fiscal policy has often been used to reduce output volatility. As is clear from the evidence gathered in this Fiscal Monitor, fiscal policy has served this purpose for 30 years. Since the mid-1990s, some advanced economies have also increasingly turned to fiscal policy to help stabilize economic conditions. Many emerging market and developing economies, however, seemed less inclined to use this approach, given their less potent fiscal instruments and the prominence of policy objectives other than output stability, such as building economic and social infrastructure geared toward economic development social needs.