David Cameron had to get elected in a Britain, a nation more addicted to welfare statism than is the U.S., and then, in order to form a Government at all, he had to form a coalition with a left of center party, the Liberal Democrats. So it probably would be too much to expect him to proceed with what is needed to revive the sagging, heavily indebted British economy: a Reaganesque agenda of spending cuts, tax cuts directed at growing the economy, and regulatory reduction.
Cameron does seem to have a mandate to make some cuts and is using it. But he not only lacks a mandate to cut marginal tax rates and capital gains takes--changes that would provide a stimulus to investment and new jobs--but he also is moving instead to raise capital gains taxes.
Technically, Mr. Cameron and Mr. Clegg have five years to rebuild the economy, but it will be slow going and more painful than necessary. It's a bit like having two doctors, one who says, cut out the cancer and another says, don't cut out the cancer, and agreeing to compromise by cutting out half the cancer.
A "Conservative-Liberal Democrat" government is a political oxymoron.
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