Cover -- The Foundations of Laissez-faire -- Title Page -- Copyright Page -- Table of Contents -- Foreword -- Introduction: A fin de règne Alceste -- 1 The context (I). Social and political Augustinianism -- 2 The context (II). On some problems in the governing of an ordered state -- 3 Equilibrium (I). The social classes approach: from the 'state of innocence' to the 'polished and magnificent state' -- 4 Equilibrium (II). The market approach: the foundations of equilibrium and of free trade -- 5 Destabilising shocks (I). Court language and merchant truth -- 6 Destabilising shocks (II). Market strategies: the propagation of disequilibrium -- Conclusion -- Appendix -- Notes -- Bibliography -- Index.