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Laissez faire (imperative) is distinct from laisser faire (infinitive), which refers to a careless attitude in the application of a policy, implying a lack of consideration, or thought.

The laissez-faire school of thought, or libertarianism, holds a pure capitalist or free market view, that capitalism is best left to its own devices — that it will dispense with inefficiencies in a more deliberate and quick manner than any legislating body could. The basic idea is that less government interference makes for a better system.

Laissez-faire philosophy was dominant in 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-faires implementation in those countries. However, there are critics who suggest that what was described as "laissez-faire" policy was simply pro-business policy, as with large subsidies for businesses to produce the railroads in the United States or the common use of tariffs by Republican presidents there. In this context, laissez-faire rhetoric was used to justify denial of similar subsidies to the poor and working classes.

For many, laissez faire theories fell into disrepute because of their failure to allow governments to deal with managing the economy during and after World War I, and their alleged failure to prevent The Great Depression. However, some libertarians, such as Milton Friedman and Alan Greenspan, argue that by the time of the Great Depression, significant government economic regulation had already taken place in most major economies, as workers and employees in all industries organized themselves into trade unions to demand better living standards, as well as various checks and balances to the perceived "tyranny of laissez faire". Workers succeeded in obtaining minimum wageThe minimum wage is the minimum rate a worker can legally be paid (usually per hour). Each country sets its own minimum wage laws and regulations, and many countries have no minimum wage. History Minimum wage laws were first introduced in New Zealand. laws and a progressive income tax in some countries. International trade barriers were also in the policy pipeline (e.g. Smoot-Hawley TariffThe Smoot-Hawley Tariff Act raised US tariffs on over 20,000 dutiable items to record levels, and, in the opinion of many economists, protracted the Great Depression. President Herbert Hoover signed the act into law on June 17, 1930. The act was champione in the USA). So, according to the above-mentioned libertarians, the economies that suffered from the DepressionThe Great Depression was a global economic slump that began in the United States following Black Thursday, the Wall Street panic of October 1929. On October 24, 1929, share prices on Wall Street collapsed catastrophically, setting off a chain of bankruptc, although possibly closer to laissez-faire than any other economic models that were ever used, still did not embrace pure capitalism. Some critics of laissez faire argue that the attainment of pure capitalism is impossible, for example since it is difficult to deal with market failureIn economics, a market failure is a case in which a market fails to efficiently provide or allocate goods and services. More generally, market failure refers to situations where market forces do not serve the perceived "public interest. Economists use mods without an active role for government.

Modern industrialised nations today are not typically representative of laissez-faire principles, as they usually involve significant amounts of government intervention in the economy. This intervention includes minimum wages, significant redistribution through tax and welfare programs, government ownership of businesses and regulation of market competition. However, many suggest that President Ronald ReaganRonald Wilson Reagan ( February 6, 1911 June 5, 2004) was the 40th ( 1981 1989) President of the United States and the 33rd ( 1967 1975) Governor of California. Reagan was also an actor in films before entering politics. Early life and career Reagan was b of the United States and Prime Minister Margaret Thatcher of the United Kingdom followed a generally laissez-faire perspective.

In the wake of the rise of the USSR, laissez-faire economics assumed a stronger ideological edge, see e.g. Hayek. In the post-war era, where state regulation and involvement in the economy reached a peak, to no small extent as part of the Cold War, anti-statist schools of economic thinking enjoyed a surge of interest and support.

Contrast with: dirigisme