# Are neoliberals actually conservatives in disguise?

**URL:** <https://boards.straightdope.com/t/are-neoliberals-actually-conservatives-in-disguise/477396>\
**Category:** Great Debates\
**Created:** [December 16, 2008, 2:37pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/are-neoliberals-actually-conservatives-in-disguise/477396 "2008-12-16T14:37:44Z")\
**Posts on this page:** 2\
**Page:** 2

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**Author:** ![mswas](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/m/e99b99/32.png) [@mswas](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/mswas)\
**Post date:** [December 16, 2008, 11:36pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/are-neoliberals-actually-conservatives-in-disguise/477396/21 "2008-12-16T23:36:42Z")

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> [@BrainGlutton](#):
>
> Hm! So liberalism actually **is** a mental disorder! 😉

Liberalism, hey, at least it’s not socialism. 😉

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**Author:** ![Ocean\_Annie](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/o/8797f3/32.png) [@Ocean\_Annie](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Ocean_Annie)\
**Post date:** [December 17, 2008, 12:53am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/are-neoliberals-actually-conservatives-in-disguise/477396/22 "2008-12-17T00:53:13Z")

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> [@mswas](#):
>
> Actually no they are liberals. Most Conservatives are liberals, not neo-liberals conservative. Those are liberal values you are describing. Of course this is back when liberal had a real and stable meaning unlike now.

I agree. Friedman championed classical liberalism, but most Americans who agreed with Friedman associated liberal with high taxes and flower children and self identified as conservative, so the term shifted into, Reaganomics, globalization, free trade, etc.

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