Showcase of Undergraduate Research and Creative Endeavors (SOURCE)

Ideology or Fallacy? The Reality of Conservative Economic Policy

How does studying the evolving economic policy of political parties in the United States serve as an indicator of their overall ideological shifts? In answering that question, the purpose of this paper is to examine if and how the economic ideology of the Republican party has changed, specifically through the presidencies of Ronald Reagan, George H.W. Bush, George W. Bush, and Donald Trump. Conservatives have long championed decreased government spending, but, seemingly, that has not been reflected in their actions when in power. Especially in terms of economic assistance and stimulus, conservatives appeared to have forgotten their asserted preference for shrinking the deficit, thus playing a part in creating the skyrocketing national debt they promised to shrink. This paper provides a qualitative framework to investigate this puzzle by specifying the traditionally conservative economic theories of Thomas Sowell, Milton Friedman, and Friedrich Hayek. That framework focuses on limiting the deficit, increasing military spending, and advocating against stimulus spending and widespread social programs. Further, this paper describes the extent of government spending during each presidency by studying each president's military expenditures, deficit growth, social spending, and stimulus spending. In doing this, the paper attempts to discern whether there has been a genuine shift in Republican and conservative ideology or if deviations from traditional theory were contingent events. The paper hypothesizes that there have been identifiable instances of divergence through each presidency, signifying a continued departure from traditional conservative economic theory.