Beginning in the 1770s, a theoretical critique of the Dutch regulatory-fiscal regime began to emerge. Adam Smith puzzled over Dutch policies and the Classical critique was adopted, opportunistically, by the Patriot political movement in the Revolutionary era. However, the regulatory-fiscal regime proved resilient. It not only survived the revolutionary upheavals but was strengtened in several respects. A new critique, led by political Liberals, succeeded in bringing both price regulation and bread taxation to an end in 1855. This chapter explores both the critics and the defenders, and concludes by exploring the effects of the 1855 "big bang" of deregulation.