But the 'neo' refers to the resurgence of basic ideas of freedom, not a big change in philosophy over the original liberal ideas.

Specifically, neoliberalism was a created to return to the Roaring 20s to rollback the post-Great Depression attempts at economic stability.

Less sardonically, neoliberalism is classical liberalism in the 20th Century but with an 18th Century perspective that ignores the oppressive potential of corporations that are more powerful than nations. Neoliberals have a hard time figuring how to hold "corporate persons" accountable for their violence against humanity and our environment, because they never cared to solve the problem of dilution of responsibility.