Neoliberalism
Etymology
From the Greek "neos," new, prefixed to liberalism. The term arose at the 1938 Colloque Walter Lippmann in Paris, but acquired its modern meaning in the 1970s and 1980s with the market reforms of Thatcher, Reagan, and the Washington Consensus. It is now used largely by critics rather than adherents.
noun · /nee-oh-LIB-er-uh-liz-um/
A political-economic doctrine favoring free markets, deregulation, privatization, and a limited state role in the economy.
What it names
The dominant governing consensus of recent decades — useful for describing an era in which market logic was extended into ever more of public life.
Example
Selling off the water utility and cutting the social safety net were textbook neoliberalism, treating public goods as businesses to be run for profit.
Related idea
Not to be confused with classical liberalism, which centers individual political rights; neoliberalism is specifically the revival of laissez-faire economics, and is often invoked pejoratively where liberalism is neutral.