I'm not convinced that political affiliation determines which economic theory will be embraced. If we look across the globe we can see examples of capitalism being embraced by Communist governments - albeit after the failure of their own experiments. On the other hand, we can find examples of very socialist ideas being embraced in market economies. All true!
Two examples. Despite what Trump and his followers say, Obama was in charge and the president when the U.S. came back from the brink of the most serious economic crisis since the Great Depression, to what where it's at right now - with low unemployment and the whole of the U.S. economy functioning very well and expanding at close to an optimal rate. Yes, it's not perfect, and some are not happy, but like any time of transition and change, there is always people being left behind.
Another example. The only Government in Canada that has truly wrestled a huge, almost credit down-grading debt to the ground, was a Liberal government. It started when Jean Chretian was Prime Minister and Pail Martin was the Finance Minister back in the mid 1990's. As noted we were teetering on the brink, and the GDP to debt ratio was out of control. The federal government buckled down, made some very hard decisions, and started to get things under control on the deficit/debt cycle. We did finally get back to balance under a the Conservative Government, of Prime Minister Stephen Harper about 5 years ago ( who regularly took a lot of credit for it!!), but the whole multi-year process that took probably 15+ years, was started under a Liberal government!
In the U.S. the Republicans are the party that seems to always trumpet about lowering taxes and having a small government. OK - now that they have everything lined up at all three levels of Government - let's see them do that. I'm serious. But you can see the problem - the debt is starting to spiral wildly out of control. The tax system, I am to understand is a mess. If you are looking on the cuts side of things, one of the biggest ticket items, if not the biggest is the military and national security and policing costs - areas that are VERY near and dear, and "don't touch" areas for conservatives in the U.S. They are in a bit of a jam! Best wishes! :)
Steve Fleck @stevefleck | Blog