Yet, typically, social policies remained largely marginal to economic policies. Macroeconomic policies, for instance, remained narrowly focused on stabilization of price levels, government budgets and current-account deficits instead of on stabilization of employment. This has not only limited the scaling up of MDG-oriented public spending, but has exacerbated the impacts of external shocks on employment and income growth, causing increased economic insecurity and placing a larger burden of adjustment disproportionately on the poor and vulnerable. Similarly, trade and financial policies remained committed to further integration with global markets, enhancing competitiveness and growth objectives, but in most instances yielding few benefits in terms of employment creation, poverty reduction and enhancement of economic security.