Joly de Fleury's predecessor was Jacques Necker, the Swiss wunderkind who was brought into the French ministry at a time of great debt in 1777.
By the time Necker left in 1781, two things had occurred that exacerbated the crisis growing in the coffers of King Louis XVI of France.
To correct the problems, he took three steps to stop the financial bleeding: Because his predecessor had published a book that was an incomplete version of the King's finances, Joly de Fleury had a difficult time making his case because members of government would simply point to their copy of the Compte rendu and decry him a liar.
Given the unpopularity of his taxes among the wealthy of France and his angering of the King's personal courtiers, eventually Joly de Fleury was forced to resign his position in 1783.
His taxes and curtailing of gifts were both rescinded immediately after his departure, but the selling of venal offices continued—trading short-term bandages for long-term solutions to the Monarchy's debt crises.