'Neoliberalism' - What's That All About?

My understanding of Gross Domestic Product, the measure of our country's success, led me uncover yet another important player in our 21st Century world which is so rarely discussed that I've come to see it as something of a secret: neoliberal capitalism.   
I understand that capitalism is based on the idea that entrepreneurs create wealth which trickles down to all of us, that private is better than public provision and that if we all work hard we will all share the benefits.
But a paper published by The International Monetary Fund in 2016 reported that the growth of neoliberalism since the 1980's has been accompanied by anaemic growth, boom-and-bust cycles and growing inequality. Neoliberalism deregulates economies around the world, forces open national markets to trade and capital, and demands that governments shrink themselves via austerity or privatisation. 
It's interesting that such an important 'system' is rarely discussed around the dinner table and doesn't hit the news headlines.  I've decided to call it a 'system' because it seems so pervasive. It has become central to our political/social and economic lives and has even, it's suggested, got inside our heads!
As George Monbiot says:  'We respond to these crises as if they emerge in isolation, apparently unaware that they have all been catalysed or exacerbated by the same coherent philosophy; a philosophy that has - or had - no name.  What greater power can there be than to operate namelessly?'