doctrine that interference of government in business and economic affairs should be minimal. Adam Smith's The Wealth of Nations (1776) described laissez-faire economics in terms of an "invisible hand" that would provide for the maximum good for all, if businessmen were free to pursue profitable opportunities as they saw them. The growth of industry in England in the early 19th century and American industrial growth in the late 19th century both occurred in a laissez-faire capitalist environment. The laissez-faire period ended by the beginning of the 20th century, when large monopolies were broken up and government regulation of business became the norm. The Great Depression of the 1930s saw the birth of Keynesian economics , an influential approach advocating government intervention in economic affairs. The movement toward deregulation of business in the United States that began in the 1970s and 80s is to some extent a return to the laissez-faire philosophy. Laissez-faire is French for "allow to do."

doctrine that interference of government in business and economic affairs should be minimal. Adam Smith's The Wealth of Nations (1776) described laissez-faire economics in terms of an invisible hand that would provide for the maximum good for all, if businessmen were free to pursue profitable opportunities as they saw them.