This discussion paper is a draft of the general commentary for Paul Anthony Samuelson: Critical Assessments, which Routledge will publish in October 2004. The three-volume set is a collection of theoretical and applied articles, published between 1988 and 2003, that is intended to assist...

This paper reflects on the influence of Vilfredo Pareto’s letters to two of his ex-students, Benvenuto Griziotti and Guido Sensini, on Ricardian equivalence and fiscal theory. The letters are of historical interest because of their emphasis on the need for fiscal studies to consider “social...

Even though important analytical concepts named after Vilfredo Pareto were, and still are, employed in public finance theory, Pareto was actually a harsh critic of the Italian public finance tradition, especially the classic studies on public goods and the reliance on the benefit principle when...

The purpose of this critical note is to contest the recent interpretation of the choicepreference approach of the “Sunto” by drawing attention to its cardinal restrictions and by highlighting the continuity in Pareto approach to utility theory between the “Sunto”, the 1906 Manuale di...

Outside of Continental Europe, Italian fiscal sociology is almost completely unknown. Seminal works have not yet been translated into English, and what is known is generally consistent with James Buchanan’s contention that Gino Borgatta was the most direct follower of Pareto who, with others,...

This brief paper contrasts the history of economic thought programs offered at the University of Western Australia in 1953 and 2003: an interval of fifty years. The study identifies lessons for current HET units from Merab Harris’ class of ’53, where HET was taught with general reference to...

This essay reviews the Gallop Government’s revenue raising and tax reform agendas, and considers why these two agendas were not integrated in a united policy framework to improve the long term structure of the state taxation regime in the State. In particular, consideration is given to why,...

Sheila Dow has been critical of mainstream economic theories, especially general equilibrium, for reflecting a ‘Cartesian mode of thought’ where dualistic categories are utilised to formally determine precise theoretical outcomes which, she contends, are poorly linked to reality. Instead,...

Many economists remember the masters of Lausanne for their important contributions to general equilibrium and welfare economics, but Leon Walras and Vilfredo Pareto both pursued much broader social research agendas. Walras did this within the general framework of economics, by complementing his...