If I were writing on a blank slate, I would argue that we should opt for the terminology favored by F.A. Hayek and Milton Friedman….: what we call libertarians should be called “liberals,” today’s liberals should be called “social democrats” (as they are in most of Europe), and the nonlibertarian right can continue to be known as “conservatives…”

However, Hayek and Friedman lost this terminological battle a long time ago, and I’m not sure we should want the term “liberal” back today even if we could have it. After all, the word now has such negative associations that even many liberals (in the modern sense of the word) no longer use it and have instead taken to calling themselves “progressives.”

Sticking to “libertarian” avoids the substantial annoyance and cost of trying to change the language. Moreover, the term has important positive connotations because of the link to the word “liberty,” traditionally perhaps the most important of American values and among the most important principles of Western civilization more generally. The other terms proposed by various people are either awkward (“market liberal”), confusing (“classical liberal”), or lacking in any positive connotations (“minarchist,” etc.).