湖边社【每日一词】laissez-faire - n. （政府不干预经济的)放任政策；不干涉主义;置之不理，不管不问，放任自流；adj. 自由放任的；放任主义的
Definition:
noun
1: a doctrine opposing governmental interference in economic affairs beyond the minimum necessary for the maintenance of peace and property rights
argued that the problem with oil prices was too much laissez-faire
2: a philosophy or practice characterized by a usually deliberate abstention from direction or interference especially with individual freedom of choice and action
the university has a policy of laissez-faire regarding nonacademic student activities
adjective
Did you know?
The French phrase laissez faire literally means “allow to do,” with the idea being “let people do as they choose.” The origins of laissez-faire are associated with the Physiocrats, a group of 18th-century French economists who believed that government policy should not interfere with the operation of natural economic laws. (The actual coiner of the phrase may have been French economist Vincent de Gournay, or it may have been François Quesnay, who is considered the group’s founder and leader.) The original phrase was “laissez faire, laissez passer,” with the second part meaning “let (things) pass.” Laissez-faire, which first showed up in an English context in the first half of the 19th century, can still mean “a doctrine opposing governmental interference in economic affairs,” but it is also used in broader contexts in which a “hands-off” or “anything-goes” policy or attitude is adopted. It is frequently used as an adjective meaning “favoring a ‘hands-off’ policy,” as in “laissez-faire economics.”
Examples of laissez-faire in a Sentence
Or are business leaders too laissez-faire about the new technology?
—Byrachyl Jones, Fortune, 8 Nov. 2023
During the laissez-faire years leading up to the Great Depression, the United States invested relatively little money in scientific research, and the country fell behind.
—David Leonhardt, New York Times, 17 Oct. 2023
His pledge to remove zoning restrictions on house-building and speed up planning applications for major construction projects have a more laissez-faire bent.
—John Cassidy, The New Yorker, 12 Oct. 2023