Laissez-faire (IPA: ) is a French phrase meaning "let it be" (literally,"Let do"). From the French diction first used by the 18th century physiocrats as an injunction against government interference with trade, it became used as a synonym for strict free market economics during the early and mid-19th century. It is generally understood to be a doctrine that maintains that private initiative and production are best allowed to roam free, opposing economic interventionism and taxation by the state beyond that which is perceived to be necessary to maintain individual liberty, peace, security, and property rights. Free-market anarchists take the idea to its full length by opposing all taxation.
In the laissez-faire view, the state has no responsibility to engage in intervention to maintain a desired wealth distribution or to create a welfare state to protect people from poverty, instead relying on charity and the market system. Laissez-faire also embodies the notion that a government should not be in the business of granting privileges. As such, advocates of laissez-faire support the idea that the government should not create legal monopolies or use force to damage de facto monopolies. Supporters of laissez-faire also support the notion of free trade on the grounds that the state should not use protectionist measures, such as tariffs and subsidies, in order to curtail trade through national frontiers.
In the early stages of European and American economic theory, laissez-faire economic policy was contrasted with mercantilist economic policy, which had been the dominant system of the United Kingdom, Spain, France and other European countries, during their rise to power.
The term laissez-faire is often used interchangeably with the term "free market". Some use the term laissez-faire to refer to "let do, let pass" attitude for matters outside of economics.
Laissez-faire is associated with classical liberalism, libertarianism, and Objectivism.citation needed] It was originally introduced in the English-language world in 1774, by George Whatley, in the book Principles of Trade, which was co-authored with Benjamin Franklin. Classical economists, such as Thomas Malthus, Adam Smith and David Ricardo did not use the term. Bentham employed it, but only with the advent of the Anti-Corn Law League did the term receive much of its (English) meaning.