Big bad neoliberalism? Rethinking neoliberalism in the light of history and modern day

In contemporary social and economic science, the concept of neoliberalism often has a negative connotation, and it is rarely used in a positive context. However, originally the term had a rather positive sense. Which changes occurred that turned neoliberalism, the once rather positively viewed reformatory ideology into a concept automatically perceived negatively and avoided even by its proponents? What actually neoliberalism is and was, now and then? In this paper we argue that the concept itself is no longer likely to regain its original, rather positive connotations but it is doomed to serve as a scapegoat, the cause of most of the current global problems. But could it be possible to abandon the term neoliberalism and derive new terms, to better distinguish the theory and the original ideas from the negative practices of the international financial institutions?