(French; " allow to do ")
Policy dictating a minimum of governmental interference in the economic affairs of individuals and society.
It was promoted by the physiocrat s and strongly supported by Adam Smith and John Stuart Mill . Widely accepted in the 19th century, laissez-faire assumed that the individual who pursues his own desires contributes most successfully to society as a whole. The function of the state is to maintain order and avoid interfering with individual initiative. The popularity of the laissez-faire doctrine waned in the late 19th century, when it proved inadequate to deal with the social and economic problems caused by industrialization . See also classical economics .