<P> The doctrine of laissez - faire became an integral part of nineteenth - century European liberalism . Just as liberals supported freedom of thought in the intellectual sphere , so were they equally prepared to champion the principles of free trade and free competition in the sphere of economics . The state was to be merely a passive policeman , protecting private property and administering justice , but not interfering with the affairs of its citizens . Businessmen and particularly British industrialists were quick to associate these principles with their own economic interests . Many of the ideas of the physiocrats spread throughout Europe and were adopted to a greater or lesser extent in Sweden , Tuscany , Spain and after 1776 in the newly created United States . Adam Smith , author of The Wealth of Nations , met Quesnay and acknowledged his influence . </P>
<P> The doctrine of laissez - faire became an integral part of nineteenth - century European liberalism . Just as liberals supported freedom of thought in the intellectual sphere , so were they equally prepared to champion the principles of free trade and free competition in the sphere of economics . The state was to be merely a passive policeman , protecting private property and administering justice , but not interfering with the affairs of its citizens . Businessmen and particularly British industrialists were quick to associate these principles with their own economic interests . Many of the ideas of the physiocrats spread throughout Europe and were adopted to a greater or lesser extent in Sweden , Tuscany , Spain and after 1776 in the newly created United States . Adam Smith , author of The Wealth of Nations , met Quesnay and acknowledged his influence . </P>
who wrote the wealth of nations and claimed that a laissez-faire economic policy is the best
who wrote the wealth of nations and claimed that a laissez-faire economic policy is the best
Adam Smith
Adam Smith