Kevin Lee- Week 2 Blog Post

            In Abbot Payson Usher’s article “Colbert and Governmental Control of Industry in Seventeenth Century France,” Usher talks about how France was refined through Colbert’s leadership, art and luxury, and competition between other nations, such as Italy, England, and Holland. During Colbert’s time, there were many policies and reforms that contributed to the refinement of France’s economy and state as a nation. We talked about the three factors that contribute to national aesthetics: the government, the industry, and the people. Usher talks about how Colbert wanted to suppress the fine arts of other countries through the fine arts of the French. Colbert created industrial codes that help move forward France’s refinement. These codes allowed the government to control the industrial laws of France and allowed the industries to expand and refine further. Colbert’s time proved to have an effect on France’s refinement and allowed France to become a stronger nation.

Question: How much has France changed since Colbert’s time? Are any of the policies or reforms from Colbert’s time still being used today?

Works Cited:

Usher, A. P. “Colbert and Governmental Control of Industry in Seventeenth Century France”.The Review of Economics and Statistics 16.11 (1934): 237–240. Web. 08 Jan. 2016.

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