Birth: Paris, France May 10th, 1727 Death: March 18th, 1781 Vocation: Economist Accomplishments: Reduction of France's national debt and improving its credit. Allegiance: France
Anne Robert Jacques Turgot, was a French economist who briefly served as controller-general from 1774-1776. He was born in Paris to Michel-Étienne Turgot and Madeleine Francoise Martineau de Brétignolles. He was educated in the Catholic Church but entered public life instead of serving in the church. He served in a number of posts starting in 1752, when he began serving on the parliament of Paris. Eventually he became controller-general under King Louis XVI.
Like the British economist Adam Smith and his friend Voltaire, Turgot had an understanding of the free market. Turgot spent his career trying to make a more equitable tax system. He also tried to encourage business, production, and agriculture as well as a free market. Many of his attempted reforms and his made him unpopular with land owners and nobility. He eventually fell out of favor with the king for several a number of reasons and was replaced.
