Absolutism was very strongly represented in Louis XIV’s economic plan. His financial advisors implemented Mercantilism, an economic system heavily influenced by the government. Jean-Baptiste Colbert was Louis XIV’s chief financial advisor. Colbert rescinded most of the internal customs fees while putting high tariffs on foreign goods being imported into France. Colbert’s goal in doing this was to have people almost exclusively buy domestic, so as to strengthen the national economy while weakening the economy of their competitors, such as England and the Dutch Republic. Colbert also subsidized the expansion in shipbuilding companies so that France could compete with the above mentioned rivals.
