No Laissez Faire There

"Friends of the free market tend to see the Gilded Age, roughly 1870-1890, as the closest thing in history to a laissez-faire economy. In some respects that is true — but it’s not saying much because the bar is low. I’d rather we didn’t mark on a curve. The period could be closest to laissez faire without being terribly close.  (In important respects, including the legal status of blacks, women, and others, the period compares rather poorly with our time.)"