Colbertism

Colbertism (French: Colbertisme) is the economic and political doctrine of Jean-Baptiste Colbert. Colbert was the Controller-General of Finances from 1665 to 1683 under Louis XIV of France. Colbertism is a variant of mercantilism, and is sometimes seen as its synonym.

The simplified objectives of mercantilism in terms of Colbertism were to improve the structure of taxes in the fiscal administration, or in the burden of taxes can enhance the nation's wealth, and of all the devices for increasing royal revenues in the king's fiscal arsenal the best is to improve trade and industry.

Colbert's central principle was that the wealth and the economy of France should serve the state. Drawing on the ideas of mercantilism, he believed state intervention was needed to secure the largest part of limited resources. To accumulate gold, a country always had to sell more goods abroad than it bought.

Colbert's main idea was a "favorable balance of trade" in which goods were exported for gold, versus an "unfavorable balance of trade" in which gold would flow out of the country. Colbert intended to get rid of internal tariffs, and to tax the nobility, but failed. Colbert did build a French economy that sold abroad and bought domestically.