Editing Jean-Baptiste Colbert (section)

===Economic reform===
[[File:Colbert-5.jpg|thumb|Colbert ''en grande tenue'' by [[Claude Lefèbvre]], 1666]]

After the abolition of the office of superintendent and of many other offices dependent upon it, control of France's finances fell to a royal council. The sovereign functioned as its president, but Colbert, though only an ''[[intendant des finances|intendant]]'' for the first four years, operated as its ruling spirit, enjoying as he did king's favor and confidence.

His ruthlessness in the execution of his functions may have set a dangerous precedent, but it probably struck him necessary in that the council could not defer to individual interests. This way of administering his policies was particularly in evidence in his preparation and enforcement of his [[French forestry ordinance of 1669|forestry ordinance of 1669]].<ref name=":2">{{Cite journal |last=Bamford |first=Paul Walden |date=1955 |title=French Forest Legislation and Administration, 1660-1789 |url=https://www.jstor.org/stable/3739851 |journal=Agricultural History |volume=29 |issue=3 |pages=97–107 |jstor=3739851 |issn=0002-1482}}</ref> When he had severely punished guilty officials, he turned his attention to the government's fraudulent creditors. Here he had a simple way of operating. He repudiated some of the public loans and reduced the interest rate on others. The amount of the reduction was initially his own decision but ultimately that of a council he established to examine all claims against the state.

Much more serious difficulties met his attempts to introduce equality in taxation among the various classes. Cutting back the number of the privileged proved impossible, but Colbert firmly resisted false claims for exemption and lightened direct taxation by increasing indirect taxes, from which the privileged could not escape. At the same time, he undertook improvements to the way taxes were collected.

Colbert's relentless hard work and thrift made him an esteemed minister. He achieved a reputation for improving the state of French [[manufacturing]] and bringing the [[economics|economy]] back from the brink of [[bankruptcy]]. Nevertheless, despite his best efforts, France grew increasingly [[poverty|impoverished]] because of the King's excessive spending on wars.<ref name="Letters to John Law">{{cite book|url= |title=Letters to John Law|author=Gavin John Adams|publisher=Newton Page|year=2012|isbn=978-1934619087|page=xxiii}}</ref>