Francesco Ferrara and Vilfredo Pareto, Readers of Frèdèric Bastiat

Frédéric Bastiat (1801-1850) had a considerable influence on Italian debates. In this paper, I will consider how two giants of Italian economics, Francesco Ferrara (1810-1900) and Vilfredo Pareto (1848-1923), read and understood Bastiat. Both Ferrara and Pareto were classical liberals and shared many of Bastiat’s values, but each viewed Bastiat’s contributions differently. Both their agreements and criticisms may help us better appreciate Bastiat’s originality. Bastiat had a profound influence on Pareto’s basic understanding of government institutions, which he built into a complete political theory. Ferrara investigated in detail the theories of the French economists, including Bastiat, and highlighted points of originality that are still today not properly appreciated. The influence of Bastiat over European economists of his time not being fully appreciated, I hope this paper may help in understanding the extent he helped his contemporaries and successors to focus their own thinking.