[nerfhammer]

though I otherwise agree with your points, a minor nitpick:

Lack of self-identification with the term doesn't necessarily matter. The terms "mercantilism" and "capitalism" were popularized by their critics (Smith, Marx) without anyone calling themselves a "mercantilist" etc.

Otherwise, yea "neoliberal" just seems to mean "the parts of more or less mainstream economics that I am feeling cranky about at the moment and would feel validated if it were reified into a bogeyman that we should all be outraged at."