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The maximisation of the economic welfare of the community. Named after the Italian economist Vilfredo Pareto (1843–1923), this points to a situation in which nobody can be made better off without making somebody else worse off.
By an efficient use of resources an economy is able to do so i.e., without making somebody else worse off, somebody might be made better off. In reality, change often produces losers as well as winners. Pareto optimality does not help judge whether this sort of change is economically good or bad.