Colbert believed in the Mercantilist doctrine that the expansion of commerce (and the maintenance of a favorable balance of trade) was the key to State wealth. His policies -- what became known as Colbertisme -- were all geared in this direction.

Colbertism was based on the principle that the state should rule in the economic realm as it did in the diplomatic, and that the interests of the state as identified by the king were superior to those of merchants and of everyone else.

Among other things, this theory postulated a finite amount of wealth determined by the amount of bullion a country controlled; a positive flow of gold and silver could in turn be facilitated by a favorable balance of trade, especially in manufactured goods and overseas products, with the state heavily involved in both directing and encouraging such activities.