Haha, here we go again... I'll admit I love these fruitless ideological discussion.
I easily fall on the more liberal free-market side of the spectrum. Let people do what they want, let them feel the consequences of their decisions, and let the market select the most efficient outcomes.
Fiscal conservatism as an ethic does not apply to only government, but should apply to all within a society. I cannot deny that a huge part of this recession is the fault of banks over-leveraging and greedy Wall-Street brokers essentially making huge risk gambles with people's pensions and 401ks.
It would not be a bad thing, in my mind, if governments were to make appropriate expenditures designed to maximize the workings of the market and to apply an efficient and minimal social safety net that helps people get back into the workforce.
It would not be bad if businesses took into account the fundamental irrationalities and rationalities of human nature when examining the probability of success for long-term investments.
The ideology of big government is stifling, but that doesn't mean that many libertarians do not accept an appropriate level of regulation and even investment by the state. But too often, we see politicians work only for short-term gains, that is, re-election.
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