For me, the long run sustainable political variable is the rate of change.
How much innovation is useful? How cautious should a government be about changing what it does?
There's no viable principle which says "expanding the government is always a good idea, nor is there a viable principle which says "reducing government is always beneficial".
Similarly, you can't say the market is always right, or that more regulation will always make markets more efficient.
You can't say government spending always crowds out innovation and private investment, or that government spending is universally benevolent.
These kinds of ideas all work in some circumstances and not in others.
So any sensible political philosophy recognises the need for circumstantial flexibility. What do circumstances demand? A swift pace of change or stability?
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