What is the historical significance of laissez-faire?

Answer 1

Adam Smith played a large role in popularizing laissez-faire economic theories in English-speaking countries, though he was critical of a number of aspects of what is currently thought of as laissez-faire (such as lack of government regulation of business practices). Laissez-faire philosophy was dominant throughout the late 19th and early 20th century in the wealthier countries of Europe and North America. Many historians also see that period as the height of laissez-faire's implementation in those countries. However, critics claim that what was described as "laissez-faire" policy was simply a proactive pro-business policy, and in practice there was little difference between pro-business and laissez-faire. In this context, laissez-faire rhetoric was used to justify denial of similar subsidies to the poor and working classes. Some believe these claims are still valid. Some argue that laissez-faire policies played a role in creating the Great Depression but many economists, such as Milton Friedman argue, that by the time of the Great Depression, significant government economic regulation had already taken place and that it was the Federal Reserve which caused the Depression, by creating an environment in which the market depended upon it to act, and then failing to take action. The action of the Federal Reserve has been compared to putting a penny in the fuse-box of the economy. Like pure communism, pure capitalism has never existed in the real world.