Question

Talk about some interesting facts about Thomas Robert Malthus.

Answer 1

Until 1790 England was largely self sufficient in food. From 1790, England saw rising food prices and urban poverty. Malthus published his essay in this context 1798. His main hypothesis was that poverty was not the result of social and political institutions.  The pessimistic speculation on population growth was quite prevalent even before Malthus. Malthus's contribution was to systematically present a population thesis whose predictions were not favored by many contemporary scholars.Malthus predicted that growth of economies will be constrained by population growth as food supply will be in shortage.Malthus's view was met with stiff resistance from his contemporaries. It was not only because the pessimism inherent in Malthus's doctrine, but also because Malthus's advocated against poor relief policies as they would encourage population growth.

The first edition of Malthus's Essay on Population was published in 1798. The first decennial census was carried out three years later which revealed that the population of England was increasing at a rapid rate. Malthus however, while writing his essays was not aware of the population explosion and he shared the belief held by his contemporaries that population of England increased a little after 1680. Malthus maintained that human race like any other animal has the biological capacity to procreate. But there are checks which constrains the population growth.

Malthus divided such checks in two categories. One set was called the preventive checks. This would include all the limitations on birth such as moral restraint. the other set was referred to as the positive checks. This category would include all causes of death.

Malthus published a second version of the essay in 1803. The second one differed in scope and methodology. It’s in this edition the second check was introduced – moral restraint. This would mean postponement of marriage and child bearing.

Malthusian theory can be essentially represented through the following propositions:

1. The rate of population growth exceeds the rate of increase in food production. Sometimes this doctrine is presented as population grows in geometric progression while food production grows in arithmetic progression.

2. Either of the two checks is always operative.

3. Limited food supply imposes the ultimate check on reproductive capacity .

He also argued that technological progress will never be sufficient to offset limitations in natural resources. But most of the statements made by Malthus were too general and therefore is not falsifiable. However, Keynes and Marshall paid their tributes to Malthus for being the first social thinker to apply inductive method to social science.Even though Malthus' writing was unsatisfying from an intellectual standpoint and cannot be falsified, it has a long standing impact on the history of demography. Marxists however provide strong criticisms of such extreme view. They maintain that population control without industrialization cannot take a country out of poverty. However, China being one of the most prominent socialist countries did not bother to impose a very strict one child policy.