Topic: laissez-faire

laissez-faire [Fr.,=leave alone], in economics and politics, doctrine that an economic system functions best when there is no interference by government. It is based on the belief that the natural economic order tends, when undisturbed by artificial stimulus or regulation, to secure the maximum well-being for the individual and therefore for the community as a whole. Formulations of the Doctrine Historically, laissez-faire was a reaction against mercantilism , a system of commercial controls in which industry and trade, especially foreign trade, were merely seen as means of strengthening... Read more