This seems an apt assessment —
Bush’s self-perception and political brand was that of a free-market conservative. But he had to ditch that when he concluded in the frightening days of 2008 that only the federal government was big enough to save the U.S. financial system.
He doesn’t say this but he essentially was a free-market conservative when the economy was on the way up, and an interventionist when it was on the way down.
It’s a variation of the criticism of Wall Street heard in recent years; financial executives sought to privatize the profits while socializing the losses….
Via For Bush, ‘Free-Market’ Conservatism Was Situational : It’s All Politics : NPR.