Laissez-Faire, Laissez Passer

 One of the main philosophies of the Physiocratic School was “Laissez-faire, laissez passer” (Grant, 2013) which roughly interpreted, stated that economic systems functioned best with as little government interference as possible. At the time this was a direct effect and response to the mercantilist economic system. Physiocrats had grown tired of the constraints set by the government in the forms of taxes, tariffs, tolls, and regulations. Given the longstanding feudal system in Europe, Physiocracy was the beginning of the peasant’s revolution in France.

Since landholders were made up of the Aristocracy and the laws governing its use and taxation created only for their benefit, taxes were passed on to the laborers who worked the farms. Physiocrats, led by Francois Quesnay advocated for a single tax system in which only the land was taxed because they believed that only the land produced wealth. "The Physiocrats insist that only agricultural labour is productive, since that alone, they say, yields a surplus-value" (The Economist, 2013). Under this assumption, they believed that the natural flow of goods would balance prices. This would increase production given a free enterprise market as well as encourage scientific advances in production methods. These beliefs, though not entirely accurate proved helpful at the time to abolish centuries old production practices designed to negate surplus and control markets.

5) Which Tenets of the School Became Lasting Contributions?

Perhaps the single most lasting tenet that Physiocrats instilled was that money was not crucial, rather it is just an intermediary. In the long run commodities and trade grow wealth rather than accumulating large sums of silver and gold. “Therefore, the key goal is not to amass bullion, or