About:
Over 200 years ago, Malthus theorized about the consequences of population growth. Some people still use Malthusian theory as a basis for representing population growth in today’s global economy. Using a system that included the proportion of proportion of births to marriages as well as births to burials, Malthus theorized that population growth is exponential (2,4,8,16) as compared to the production of food, which is linear (1,2,3,4). An increase productivity will lead to more population—not wealth! people would not increase their standard of living but rather increase the population and living conditions for workers and the poor would not rise above subsistence level. Eventually, the population would exceed the production of food. Malthus argued that contraception would reduce the incentive to work, so moral efficiency is a requirement of economic growth. Malthus was actually a preacher, and he used his scientific observations to support his sermons (Skidelsky, 2020).
Influential Books and Other Writings:
An Essay on the Principle of Population (1798)
Key Concepts:
Malthusian Trap—population growth will eventually exceed food production.