How did the physiocrats support free-market economics in France?

The physiocrats, an 18th-century French school of economics, supported free-market principles by advocating for a "rule of nature" in economic affairs. They believed that government policy should not interfere with natural economic laws, a doctrine often summarized by the phrase laissez-faire, laissez passer—meaning "let do, let pass".12

To promote this, they challenged the prevailing system of mercantilism, which relied on heavy state regulation, protectionism, and a focus on manufacturing and foreign trade. In contrast, the physiocrats argued that labor and commerce should be freed from all government restraints. They contended that wealth was derived solely from the products of the soil and that an agricultural society operating under free trade would be most prosperous.1

Their influence persisted through the late 18th century, with their ideas eventually informing the Anglo-French commercial treaty of 1786 and the 1789 decree that deregulated the grain trade in France.1