Page "Giovanni Botero" Paragraph 10

Indeed, Jean Bodin's influential Six Books of a Republic was an important influence on Botero's writing of the Reason of State, even if, as with Machiavelli's Prince, much of that influence was negative.

While Botero disagrees with Bodin's thought on sovereignty, preferring something more popularly based, he does agree with some of Bodin's economic ideas.

Nonetheless, Botero's overall conception of political economy is again more ' liberal ' than that of Bodin, who argued for active participation by kings in the economy of the country, including mercantilist policies that would be enacted wholeheartedly in seventeenth century France by Louis XIV and Colbert.

Bodin cautioned kings only against trading with their own subjects ; all other economic activity was allowed.

Botero, on the other hand, argued that there were only three cases where the prince could take part in trade: 1 ) if no private citizen could afford it, 2 ) if a single private citizen would grow too powerful by the profits of it, or 3 ) there were some shortfall in supply whereby the prince would have to aid in the distribution of goods.

Ultimately, Botero argued that economic activity was unbecoming a prince, and that the people were to be the prime economic mover in the state.