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| laissez-faire: Originally the motto of 18th-century French physiocrats who deplored the imposition of customs duties by the government, the phrase meant "let things alone", "don't interfere", "hands off". The doctrine of of laissez-faire was popularized by the Scottish economist Adam Smith in Wealth of Nations (1776) , in which he espoused free trade, a hands-off policy by the government. A nation's health was supposedly best served by natural laws of supply and demand., self-interest and competition and needed no artificial stimulus or regulation. The basic individualistic principle was extended to political affairs, and during the Industrial Revolution, the British Parliament was forced to repeal the corn laws, which sought to regulate the price of food for poor workers. Laissez-faire policies have always been touted by conservatives, while liberals have always been for the government intervention to create some equality between the rich and poor. Today, "laissez-faire" may describe an individual or agency's handling of behavior problems, such as a laissez-faire approach to rearing children. ~Facts on File Dictionary of Cultural and Historical Allusions. |
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