Jean-Baptiste ColbertI just read that Colbert

Colbert sought to increase the wealth and power of France through general adherenceto mercantilism, which stressed government regulation of economic activities to benefit the state

This isn't Socialism, right?  So what would it be similar to?  Communism?

Mercantilism is state monopoly via control of trade routes, merchants, raw materials, and finished goods.  Here is a decent definition:  http://mars.wnec.edu/~grempel/courses/wc2/lectures/mercantilism.html

I have of course heard of mercantilism before but wasn't really sure about the nature of that system.  I just read parts of the page Donnie linked to.  I must say, mercantilism described there sounds quite a bit like your basic free enterprise, capitalist system – at least to a degree.  Where it parts most, however, is in the strict control of imports.  Having such a favorable trade balance will, in fact, lead to a greater concentration of financial resources; whether or not it creates greater wealth is another story.  Here are some comments on what I see.  The problem of mercantilism is in the failure to embrace the efficient allocation of resources, which is something fundamental to a capitalist system.  Mercantilists would likely argue that something ought to be produced domestically for domestic consumption rather than import such goods, even if importing them would lead to a lower price (i.e. economic efficiency).  For example, Spain could restrict imports of apples with tariffs or whatnot so as to force Spanish people to buy apples from Spanish produces.  Say that the climate in Spain is not all that conducive to growing apples, making them more scarce and thereby forcing their price to increase.  Say also that the climate in England is ideal for growing apples and that they could provide them to the Spanish at a market price (ignoring the tariffs) at half the market price the Spanish are selling them at.  If the English apples could be sold in Spain, money would flow out of Spain and into England (unfavorable trade balance for Spain) but Spanish consumers would end up with more wealth, since their money would purchase more goods in the end.  But the outflow of cash/bullion is what mercantilist countries want to avoid.