Shankha Chakraborty (University of Oregon) presented Jones and Kim (2014), in which the authors exploit the tractability of Pareto distributions in creating and analyzing a model of creative destruction which predicts rising inequality, the likes of which we have observed over the past few decades in the United States.

Abstract:  Top income inequality rose sharply in the United States over the last 35 years
but increased only slightly in economies like France and Japan. Why? This paper
explores a model in which heterogeneous entrepreneurs, broadly interpreted, exert
effort to generate exponential growth in their incomes. On its own, this force leads
to rising inequality. Creative destruction by outside innovators restrains this expansion and induces top incomes to obey a Pareto distribution. The development
of the world wide web, a reduction in top tax rates, and a decline in misallocation
are examples of changes that raise the growth rate of entrepreneurial incomes and
therefore increase Pareto inequality. In contrast, policies that stimulate creative
destruction reduce top inequality. Examples include research subsidies or a decline
in the extent to which incumbent firms can block new innovation. Differences
in these considerations across countries and over time, perhaps associated with
globalization, may explain the varied patterns of top income inequality that we see
in the data.

A link to the full paper can be found here.