SOURCE: "Demaria on Pareto," in The Development of Economic Thought: Great Economists in Perspective, J. Wiley, 1952, pp. 628-51.

In the following essay, which originally appeared in an Italian economic journal in 1949, Demaria examines Pareto's economic writings.

I

By a consent which is nearly unanimous, Pareto has been given the honor title, "father of contemporary economic science." In order to appreciate the significance of the work of the great Italian thinker, we must pause for a moment to examine the stage at which economic science had arrived during the third quarter of the past century. At this period, economics abounded with historical interpretations which emphasized certain historical factors, claiming a fundamental character for each of these. This was often done in an arbitrary manner, on the basis of simple intuition, and in complete disregard of theoretical considerations. But during this period the reviewer also meets at every turn quantitative...