The Epic Interactive Encyclopedia 1998/Epic Interactive Encyclopedia, The - 1998 Edition (1998)(Epic Marketing).iso/L/Laissez-faire/INFOTEXT

Text File | 1992-09-03 | 2KB | 38 lines

French `let alone' theory that the state
should not intervene in economic affairs,
except to break up a monopoly. The phrase
originated with the Physiocrats, 18th-century
French economists whose maxim was
laissez-faire et laissez-passer, (leave the
individual alone and let commodities
circulate freely). The degree to which
intervention should take place is still one
of the chief problems of economics. The
Scottish economist Adam Smith justified the
theory in The Wealth of Nations. Before the
17th century, control by the guild, local
authorities, or the state, of wages, prices,
employment, and the training of workmen, was
taken for granted. As capitalist enterprises
developed in the 16th and 17th centuries,
entrepreneurs shook off the control of the
guilds and local authorities. By the 18th
century this process was complete. The
reaction against laissez-faire began in the
mid-19th century and found expression in
labour legislation. This reaction was
inspired partly by humanitarian protests
against the social conditions created by the
Industrial Revolution, partly by the wish to
counter popular unrest by removing some of
its causes. The 20th century has seen an
increasing degree of state intervention to
promote social benefits, which after World
War II in Europe was extended into the field
of nationalization of leading industries and
services. However, from the 1970s
laissez-faire policies were again pursued in
the UK and USA. EC efforts to incorporate
social benefits in monetary union legislation
are rejected by thte UK government.