neoliberaal

09:10 Jan 22, 2015 

Yup 😊

03:02 Jan 22, 2015 

So if conservatives in the UK favour free enterprise, they can be called *both* liberal and conservative there.

15:50 Jan 21, 2015 

Oxforddictionaries.com has pretty good description of conservative (applies to both UK and US):

conservative: "(In a political context) favouring free enterprise, private ownership, and socially conservative ideas."

Usage examples:
– The libertarian, old conservative wing of the Republican Party has never liked this war.
– Such developments would presumably be envied by genuine libertarians in socially conservative countries - even if their taxes are lower.
– However, there is a tendency for European electorates to move to the right or left in a manner that may not be co-ordinated, but does produce clusters of conservative or Socialist governments at any one time.

Synonyms: right-wing, reactionary, traditionalist, unprogressive

Parties:
in the UK: Tory
in the US: Republican

(http://www.oxforddictionaries.com/definition/english/conserv... )

15:13 Jan 21, 2015 

In the US, we tend to consider "liberal" and "conservative" opposites. How is that in the UK? Does "conservative" refer generally to the Conservative Party there, who might be called "liberal"? I think Americans use the terms more widely, but I'm curious if I'm correct. "Liberal" in the US refers also to social issues (gay marriage, equality for African Americans, etc.) and not specifically economic policy. The words are also used often in combination with "values" ("conservative values" = church, family; "liberal values" = equality, social justice). How is that in the UK?

19:23 Jan 20, 2015 

@writeaway That's not a very "pro-level" comment.

19:17 Jan 20, 2015 

More or less, yes.

19:07 Jan 20, 2015 

I am to understand that in the UK "liberal" means what we Yankees would call "conservative"? OK, then, problem solved.

19:04 Jan 20, 2015 

No, in the American context this would definitely not be "neoliberal" and this text refers to the Dutch situation. I'm looking for a term that will sound correct in a UK context. Maybe I should use the term with quotes and explain it ("neoliberals" [proponents of market deregulation]).

Wikipedia says the following about US liberalism: Keynesian economic theory has played a central role in the economic philosophy of modern American liberals.[8] The argument has been that national prosperity requires government management of the macroeconomy, to keep unemployment low, inflation in check, and growth high.[8]

This would appear to be the opposite of how the term liberal is intended here.

17:15 Jan 20, 2015 

The problem is that there are different perceptions of the idea in a European context (including UK) and an American one. Compare the English and Dutch Wikipedia entries, for instance:

http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Neoliberalism
http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Neoliberalism

In het nederlands is het in verwarrende term, zie:

http://www.encyclo.nl/begrip/Neoliberalisme.

Drie uiteen lopende definities.

It seems to me that the text refers to American Neoliberalism and I would use that.

16:15 Jan 20, 2015 

http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Neoconservatism

Sjors Loopbos was er ook zo één, niet zo lang geleden!