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Vilfredo Pareto (born July 15, 1848 in France -
died August 19, 1923 in Lausanne, Switzerland)
made several important contributions to economics,
sociology and moral philosophy, especially in the
study of income distribution and in the analysis
of individuals' choices.  He introduced the
concept of Pareto efficiency and helped develop
the field of microeconomics with ideas such as
Indifference curve|indifference curves. His
theories influenced Benito Mussolini and the
development of Italian fascism.

The Pareto family moved to Italy in 1858.  In
1870, Pareto received an engineering degree from
the Turin Polytechnic Institute and he took
employment with the Italian state railways. In
1886, he became a lecturer on economics and
management at the University of Florence. In 1893,
he was appointed as a lecturer in economics at the
University of Lausanne in Switzerland where he
remained for the rest of his life. 

In 1906, he made the well-known observation that
20% of the population owned 80% of the property in
Italy, later generalised (by Joseph M. Juran and
others) into the so-called Pareto principle (for
many phenomena 80% of consequences stem from 20%
of the causes), and generalised further to the
concept of a Pareto distribution.

The Pareto index is a measure of the inequality of
income distribution.

The Pareto chart is a special type of histogram,
used to view causes of a problem in order of
severity from largest to smallest.  It is a
statistical tool that graphically shows the 20-80
rule.

In his Trattato di Sociologia Generale (The
Treatise on General Sociology) first published in
English under the title Mind and society, he put
forward the first Social cycle theory in
sociology.

==External links==
*
http://cepa.newschool.edu/het/profiles/pareto.htm
Further infomation from New School University
* http://www.nyx.net/~jkalb/misc/pareto.html A
Concise Overview of His Life, Works, and
Philosophy by Fr. James Thornton