Economic Struggles

Going into the French revolution the economy was not stable. The government had just lent a lot of money in support of the American revolution. As well, the taxes that were collected were low because of the famine that was sweeping across the country and affecting the peasants ability to make money and/or grow crops. The king had squandered money on his extravagant life style and the country would soon find themselves out of money. Economic reform was well over due.

     During the enlightenment, Adam Smith presented ideas about how the economy should be run. He thought that less government control, the better the economy would be. He believed that if the economy was left alone it would take care of things like prices and jobs through supply and demand. Instead of everything being run and controlled by the king, the economy would be run by the people and the people would decide what they would buy and sell and at what prices they would buy and sell as well. Adam Smith's ideas were commonly accepted and the idea of a free market was adapted by the country of France.


The idea of a free market spread all over France and businesses grew because of this freedom.
http://www.google.ca/imgres?