Liberal = Left?

[James A. Landau]

Ever since the left wing/right wing political metaphor came into existence in the First French Republic, "liberals" (with or without the capital "L") have usually been considered a subset of the Left.

However, the following article in Slate (on-line) Magazine has a different meaning for the noun "liberal":

Did 9/11 Snuff the European Left?
By Anne Applebaum
Updated Tuesday, March 19, 2002, at 9:39 AM PT

<begin quote>
<snip>
center-left governments in Europe are falling. Last spring, Silvio Berlusconi's Forza Italia swept the Italian general elections. In November, Danish elections brought economic liberals to power for the first time in 80 years. After elections last weekend, Jose Manuel Durao Barroso, another economic liberal and admirer of Margaret Thatcher, looked set to become Portugal's prime minister.
<snip>
Europe wants to emulate America's perceived economic success—which means, among other things, privatizing, liberalizing, and cutting taxes.
<snip>
<end quote>

Has anyone else observed "economic liberal" or "liberal" meaning advocate of privatizing industry, cutting taxes, etc?


    - Jim Landau