Under the mercantile system in europe in the 1700s, governments regulated their economies by

They regulated them with high tariffs whose goal was to increase export and reduce import. This would help the local manufacturers in the fight against imported goods which is why for example colonies were under obligations to trade only with countries that colonized them. This was common in the Americas for example.

The marshall plan sent the european economy towards all-out war. Almost no money was used for anything but fighting.