Colbert

Nominated Minister of Finance in 1661, Jean-Baptiste Colbert (born 1619) developed the first national economy of the modern age. His state-guided economy included better tax collection, statistical planning of the budget and regular bookkeeping. An advocate of Mercantilism (also Colbertism), he aimed at a favorable French balance of trade through the export of valuable finished products (like luxury items) and high import tariffs. He encouraged a more efficient domestic trade (roads, canals, suppression of local duties), established state monopolies, subsidized manufactures, promoted navigation and trade associations, fixed agricultural prices, encouraged marriage and prohibited emigration (except to Canada). To support his policies, he also greatly enlarged the size of the royal navy. While mercantilism promoted commerce and crafts, thereby increasing prosperity, peasants were not stimulated to increase their production. When he died in 1683, his son Colbert de Seignelay pursued his task till 1690.