>Bert Davis wrote:
>>I am at times puzzled, confused, dismayed and outraged by the uses of
the term
>>Neo-liberalism.
>>In my youth Liberal Democrats believed in unions, safety nets and
progressive
>>taxation. Conservative Republicans were against unions, safety nets
and
>>wanted
>>none or regressive taxation.
>>To label today's corporate drive for world domination as
Neo-liberalism is
>>like
>>saying that black is white.
>>Please enlighten me as to the origin, history, meaning and purpose of
>>Neo-liberalism.
>>Shouldn't it be called Neo-conservatism? TIA.
>Liberalism outside the U.S. means Manchester liberalism, i.e.
small-state,
>laissez-faire economics. Back in the 60s and early 70s, Milton Friedman
>tried to popularize this definition of liberalism, but it never took.
I first thought "neo-liberalism" was sarcastic, to gig the laissez-faire proponents with a term, "liberal", that they have made a dirty word, but applied to them. In Europe, Cato Institute libertarians are "liberals", for example the Frei Deutsche Partei (FDP). I think that only in America does "liberal" mean what Bert Davis says.
But I guess I was wrong. Neo-liberal just means what Doug says. If there was sophistication in the use of the term, it has been lost.