Perhaps, because the words laissez-faire are French ('let do'), we make the mistake of thinking the French had a laissez-faire State. They didn't. The English were much closer to laissez-faire and we Americans even more so. The French OTOH practiced Mercantilism - to the detriment of the French economy. [video=youtube;6IDwfsS1PRE]http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=6IDwfsS1PRE[/video]
