Are we to wait for the end of the war? Pierre de Boisguilbert and the opportunity of laissez-faire (1707)   by Benoît Malbranque   Foreword Laissez-faire (let things be) is an ideal which presents itself in various forms in French literature prior to the 17th century, and first and foremost in the writings of Rabelais and Montaigne, but whose first greatest advocate in economics is Pierre de Boisguilbert (1646–1714). This man, for sure, is a curious fellow, with a peculiar way of writing. English readers until now have never experienced his writings, for his main economic works have appeared in […]