What is the Meaning of Physiocracy | Concept and Definition of Physiocracy
The economic system that assigns the origin of wealth to the nature is called physiocracy. This school of thought emerged in France in the 18th century, with exponents such as François Quesnay, Pierre Samuel du Pont de Nemours and Anne Robert Jacques Turgot, among others.
The physiocrats economic systems should be governed by their own natural laws, without the intervention of the Government. Its system was to base the french concept of laissez-faire, which promotes the free market and the non-intervention of the Government in economic decisions.
The physiocracy, therefore, was opposed to commercialism, promoter of an active state, which established protectionist measures. For the physiocrats, these policies which involve the intervention of the State in different stages of the production and distribution of products generated a decrease of economic activity of prosperity in general. To demonstrate this, they gave as examples the monopolies that dominated some sectors of the economy and the strengthening of a parasitic bourgeoisie class.
Just like the commercialism considers that the basis of wealth is the accumulation of precious metals from international trade, the physiocracy, wealth is generated by agriculture. The physiocrats theorists argue that the farmer is the only individual whose product work (or reported) something more than the salary he receives.
The criticisms of the physiocracy contradicted that the Mercantile and artisan classes were unproductive and claimed that the property taxes (on Earth) should not be applied.