Wealth Condensation: Why the Rich Get Richer

Back in the late 19^th century an Italian engineer-turned-economist named Vilfredo Pareto was coming up with some interesting notions regarding wealth distribution.  Pareto had noticed that quite a bit of Italy’s wealth seemed to be concentrated in the hands of only a few people.  After some diligent work, he determined that approximately 20% of the population owned about 80% of the land.  It was the beginning of an inquiry into why it is that in every human population – every single one – the majority of that population’s wealth concentrates itself in the hands of a very few people.