<P> These axioms constitute the basic elements of laissez - faire thought, although another basic and often - disregarded element is that markets should be competitive, a rule that the early advocates of laissez - faire have always emphasized . To maximize freedom and allow markets to self - regulate, early advocates of laissez - faire proposed a impôt unique, a tax on land rent to replace all taxes that damage welfare by penalizing production . </P> <P> In Europe, the laissez - faire movement was first widely promoted by the Physiocrats, a movement that originated with Vincent de Gournay, a successful merchant . Gournay adopted the concept, which is the translation of Chinese philosophy wu wei, from François Quesnay's writings on China . Gournay held that the government should allow the laws of nature to govern economic activity, with the state only intervening to protect life, liberty and property . His ideas were taken up by François Quesnay and Anne Robert Jacques Turgot, Baron de l'Aulne . Quesnay had the ear of the King of France, Louis XV and in 1754 persuaded him to give laissez - faire a try . On September 17, the King abolished all tolls and restraints on the sale and transport of grain and for more than a decade the experiment was a success, but then in 1768 there was a poor harvest, and the cost of bread rose so high that there was widespread starvation while merchants exported grain in order to obtain the best profit . In 1770, the edict allowing free trade was revoked . </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> <P> In Britain, the newspaper The Economist was founded in 1843 and became an influential voice for laissez - faire capitalism . Laissez - faire advocates opposed food aid for famines occurring within the British Empire . In 1847, referring to the famine then underway in Ireland, founder of The Economist James Wilson wrote: "It is no man's business to provide for another". However, The Economist campaigned against the Corn Laws that protected landlords in the United Kingdom of Great Britain and Ireland against competition from less expensive foreign imports of cereal products . The Great Famine in Ireland in 1845 led to the repeal of the Corn Laws in 1846 . The tariffs on grain which kept the price of bread artificially high were repealed . However, repeal of the Corn Laws came too late to stop Irish famine, partly because it was done in stages over three years . </P>

Who wrote the wealth of nations and claimed that a laissez-faire economic policy is the best