Example of A Strong Economy Without Any Government Intervention

This occurred in the late 1840's during the California Gold Rush.

Some highlights from the article:

They had a bank panic in 1855, "But the difficulties were relatively short-lived, a tribute to the remarkable strength of an economic system that didn't exist before 1848, said noted Gold Rush historian J.S. Holliday."

The discovery of gold spawned the stunningly swift development of a sophisticated market-driven economy run by bankers, venture capitalists, importers, experts and merchants of all kind, including many who once had tried their hands at mining.

It was an economy noteworthy for its lack of government regulation, Starr said. Merchants accepted gold dust as payment; private firms minted their own coins. Banks were formed without state charters.

But for all its frontier flavor, it was also an economy tamed by market forces. When eggs were scarce, they sold for $1 apiece; by the early '50s, when supply lines were established, they were down to $1.50 a dozen, said James Henley, a city of Sacramento historian.