The modernization of public finances under Napoleon: the work of Mollien to keep the accounts

2022-08-10T11:50:22.497Z

THE MINISTERS WHO RESTORED FRANCE'S ACCOUNTS (3/5) - Bonaparte's Minister of the Treasury urged the Emperor to create the Banque de France, the Court of Auditors.

A few ministers have stood out throughout history for their desire to restore public finances.

A look back at four centuries of solutions to reduce the country's debt.

On economic subjects, Napoleon did not shine by the originality of his thought.

“

First agriculture, then industry, that is to say manufacturing;
finally trade, which should only be the overabundance of the first two

centuries.

This is how the deposed emperor summed up, from Saint Helena, to Emmanuel de Las Cases his ideal economic policy.

This simplistic vision, coupled with a very thrifty fund inherited from his mother and a deep aversion to the financial markets, largely explains his economic choices.

Coming to power in a noise of bankruptcy, Bonaparte was obsessed with cleaning up public accounts.

He entrusted the mission of keeping his finances to an excellent Minister of the Treasury: Nicolas François Mollien.

Nicolas Francois Mollien.

www.bridgemanimages.com/Bridgeman Images

Demanding explanations for each account movement, Napoleon did not spare him...

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Source: lefigaro