==================== HES POSTING =================== 
 
[Posted on behalf of Luigino Bruni <[log in to unmask]> -- RBE] 
 
 
Dear Dr. Craven,  
 
I have just read your answer to HES: QUERY -- welfare theory and 
Mussolini. Your thesis is: "Pareto was guided in his approach, assumptions 
and what he assumed away by Mussolini-like ideology".  
 
I have found this answer trivial and substantially wrong.  
 
I try to argue why.  
 
1. First and foremost, there is a great historical mistake: Pareto has 
established his economic and sociological theory at the very beginning of 
this century: in the Manuale di Economia Politica (Manual of Political 
Economy), written in the 1905, we have his "Optimum", and his basic ideas 
were already present in his works of the end of XIX century, when 
Mussolini was a child.  
 
(Man Mussolini went to power in 1922, Pareto died in 1923).  
 
2. On the other hand, it is true Mussolini attented at few of Pareto's 
lectures in Sociology in Lausanne (when he was student) in 1906.  
 
>From this episode comes the great narrative about Pareto's influence on 
Mussolini's political and social ideology. More than Mussolini, a few 
fascist economists and sociologists tried to relate their visions to some 
Paretian theories, principally the "theory of Elites", and his "curve of 
income distribution". late their visions to some Paretian theories, 
principally the "theory of Elites", and his "curve of income 
distribution".  
 
For the sake of the History of Economics (and HES) I think it could be 
better if answers are given by people expert on the particular topic (in 
this case there is the Centre Walras-Pareto in Lausanne 
 
This is just a friendly suggestion.  
 
Yours sincerely  
 
Luigino Bruni  
 
University of East Anglia (Norwich) 
 
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