Member of a school of economics, founded in 18th-century France, that held that government should not interfere with the operation of natural economic laws.
Generally regarded as the first scientific school of economics , the physiocratic school (the name refers to the "rule of nature") was founded by Land and agriculture were therefore believed to be the source of all wealth. The physiocrats envisaged a society in which written law would be in harmony with natural law . They pictured a predominantly agricultural society, attacking mercantilism for its emphasis on manufacturing and foreign trade and its mass of economic regulations. Quesnay's disciples included Victor Riqueti, count de Mirabeau , and Pierre Samuel du Pont de Nemours (1739–1817). The school was in decline by 1768, and after the dismissal of a sympathetic comptroller general in 1776 the leading physiocrats were exiled. Though many of their theories, notably their theory of wealth, were later demolished, their introduction of {{link=scientific method">scientific method to economics had a permanent effect on the discipline.