I seem to remember our economy getting gutted by reckless finance corporation policies. It was some attempts at raising spending (which was deficit spending because revenues dropped like a rock) that appeared to help the US economy.
I know a few engineering jobs at my company were saved directly from the Stimulus related to a more aggressive schedule for the national levee inspection program (something that needed to be done anyway in the US in response to the lackluster performance of the New Orleans flood protection systems).
Our last financial meltdown was created when corporations found a scheme to take profits from investments before the profits were actually realized, mortgage backed securities, derivatives, and the lot.
If you want to see a nation ruined by excess spending, look to Greece. Their government is too weak to effectively collect taxes, so tax evasion is the cultural norm. The citizens still demand government services, so the Greek government borrowed money to make up the difference. The Greek's problem was not lack of fiscal restraint, it was trying to satisfy a nation that wants to have cake and eat it, too.