In 1929,after the crash, the first reaction of the government was that, since there had been too much speculative cash in the system, creating a bubble, the right thing to do was to tighten government spending and lending. By the time they loosened the reins of fiscal and monetary policy it was TOO LATE.
There is a time and place for fiscal conservatism. But 2001-2002 was NOT IT. The wild party of the dot-com bubble (aided and abetted by Clinton's gang at treasury, who had a deliberate policy of jacking up the US dollar to suck money into the US stock and bond bubble) was the BIGGEST financial bubble in history! The bursting of that bubble, compounded by 911, created a serious danger of a deflationary collapse. That was no time for fiscal or monetary conservatism. It was time to SPEND and LEND.
The "downside" of Bush's economic policies was a decline in the US dollar. But this has only amounted to reversing the untoward gains of the Clinton years, brought on by his massive tax increases. Tax increases, everywhere in the world and every time, lead to a rise in currency value. A rising currency is great for wall street, but very bad for US farming, mining, and manufacturing. Farmers in particular have favored a lower value for the dollar since the beginning of time :).
It is interesting that the 1920's were similar to the 1990's in that stock markets boomed (along with a rising US dollar) while farmers suffered. Bush's policies offered some quick and much needed relief to all US commodity producers. Bush's policies were not fiscally conservative, but they were right for the time.