This volume of intellectual biography takes the Italian economist, sociologist, political scientist Vilfredo Pareto (1848-1923) from his disillusionment with liberal and pacifist activism, to the original development of pure economics and the composition of his Treatise on General Sociology and the test of this latter on the war and post-war events.

This three volume series of intellectual biography considers the life, work and impact on economic, social and political theory of the Italian economist, sociologist and political scientist Vilfredo Pareto (1848–1923). This volume covers the period starting from his childhood up to his early political activism, amateur journalism and initial scholarly contributions. His pre-Lausanne years are often neglected by students of Pareto, but form the intellectual and biographical background to his later contributions to economic, social and political theory.

This three volume series of intellectual biography considers the life, work and impact on economic, social and political theory of the Italian economist, sociologist and political scientist Vilfredo Pareto (1848-1923). This second volume follows Pareto from his time teaching at Lausanne to the juncture in his life where he first began to make theoretical contributions of his own. Mornati considers Pareto’s work on pure economics, general equilibrium, welfare economics and the economic case for socialism, as well as his critical observations of Italian and Swiss public policy.

This three volume series of intellectual biography considers the life, work and impact on economic, social and political theory of the Italian economist, sociologist and political scientist Vilfredo Pareto (1848-1923). This second volume follows Pareto from his time teaching at Lausanne to the juncture in his life where he first began to make theoretical contributions of his own. Mornati considers Pareto's work on pure economics, general equilibrium, welfare economics and the economic case for socialism, as well as his critical observations of Italian and Swiss public policy. Fiorenzo Mornati is Associate Professor in History of Economic Thought at the University of Turin, Italy.

Combining a thorough introduction to the work of nineteenth-and early twentieth-century Italian social theorist Vilfredo Pareto with a highly readable English translation of Pareto's last monograph "Generalizations," originally published in 1920, this work illustrates how and why democratic forms of government undergo decay and are eventually reinvigorated. More than any other social scientist of his generation, Pareto offers a well-developed, articulate, and compelling theory of change based on a Newtonian vision of science and an engineering model of social equilibrium. This dynamic involves a shifting balance among the countervailing forces of centralization and decentralization of power, economic expansion and contraction, and liberalism versus traditionalism in public sentiment. By 1920, Pareto had developed a scheme for predicting shifts in magnitude of these forces and subsequent change in the character of society. This book will be of interest to students, teachers, or general readers interested in political science, sociology and late-nineteenth/ early-twentieth century social theory.

Roger E. Backhouse and Keith Tribe present a broad introduction to the history of economic thought based upon courses they have taught for many years. Its main purpose is to provide an overview for students and teachers who have not had the opportunity of taking a course in the subject. The book is presented as a series of twenty-four lectures. Each lecture presents an outline of aims, a select bibliography, a chronology, an overview of between 3,000 and 4,000 words, and questions for further study or reflection. Contemporary understanding of economic principles sheds little light on the manner in which past thinkers thought, so the student is provided with the much-needed context behind the development of ideas as well as being guided through the original writings of economists such as Smith, Jevons, Marshall, Robbins, Keynes, and others. The emphasis is on the broad developing stream of economic argument from the seventeenth century to the present, seeking to emphasize a diversity that is sometimes suppressed in more conventional textbooks, which tend to organize their histories into sequences of schools of thought. With many years of experience teaching economic thought, the authors have honed their presentation to the needs of those with no previous background in the subject, without sacrificing analysis or rigor. The book will be warmly welcomed by students and teachers alike.