Question

State the Malthusian population theory and discuss its weaknesses and strengths from today’s point of view.

Answer 1

Malthusian population theory : It is a theory given by Thomas Robert Malthus who was a famous British economist of 18^th century. He was popularly known for the population growth philosophies outlined in his 1798 book "An Essay on the Principle of Population." The Malthusian theory of population is a thoery in which he stated that there is exponential population growth and arithmetic food supply growth. This theory deals with population growth and food production in the economy.

Malthusian theory stated that there is geometric progression in case of population growth. Geometric progression means a sequence of numbers where each term after the first term is found by multiplying the previous one by a common ration number. For eg. If there is a sequence of 2,10,50,250,1250, then the common ratio here is 5. As per this theory the population grow as per geometric progression.

In case of food production as per this theory, there is arithmetic progression which means that food production increases in arithmetic progression. An arithmetic progression is a sequence of numbers where there is a common differences between the two terms. For eg, if the sequence is 2,5,8,11,14, then the difference is same which is 3 so as per this theory the food production growth happens as per the concept of arithmetic progression.

From the above you could conclude that the population grew faster than the food supply. It states that if population continues to grow like this there will be shortage of food in the economy and this whole theory deals with the relationship of these two aspects of population growth and food supply in an economy.

Weaknesses of this thoery :

1. Mathematically wrong : Malthusian theory states that food supply increases in arithmetic progression and population grow in geometric progression but it has not been proved emphircially. We could see that food supply has increased more than arithmetic progression and population growth is also not in geometric progression. So it is cricized on this basis also that the method used by him in the first edition has been removed in the second edition so we could judge that mathematically this theory does not hold true.

2. Applied static law to period of time : This theory could not foresee the scientific knowledge and technological improvements over time. Its theory that food supply increases in arithmetic progereesion is based on static law at one time that is the law of diminishing returns. But the food supply is much more than the arithmetical progression. So this theory has proved wrong not only in advanced and developed countries but also in developing countries like india with the green revolution.

3.Neglected the manpower aspect : With the increase in the population, there is increase in manpower in the economy which means that there will be increase not only in agricultural produce but also in industrial products. This will be helpful to a country in making it rich by equal distribution of wealth and income. So the one sided aspect of population is taken in the Malthusian theory which is not right and doesn't represents the whole picture.

4. Preventive checks aspect : Thomas laid on moral restraints like late marriage, celibacy, etc to control population but he could not visualize that human beings would develop the contraceptives and other family planning devices to control the population. This happens may be because he can not make a difference between sexual desire and desire to have children. Moral restrain alone could not help in control the population which was suggested by this theory so family planning is essential.

5. Positive checks are not due to over population : Thomas was beleivd that over population is a heavy burden on the earth and which will be lessened automatically by God in the form of misery, diseases, wars, floods, etc. But this is irrelevant aspect as we know that natural calamities are not peculiar to only over populated countries. These calamities visit those countries as well where there is less population so this is a major weakness point in this theory.

6. Failed to foresee future possibilities : Thomas Malthusian theory is based on a one time period and failed to foresee the future aspects. He failed to see that humans will invent such scienetific methods of controlling population and technological advancements in production of food that there will be no shortage of food for the population. His vision is more futuristic and thus fails to give the correct assessment.

Strengths of this theory :

Vital theory : This theory make people wise in a way that those who see the problem of over population as a hazard they try to invent new methods to control it. This theory make people aware about the future that such dis-balance of food supply and population could happen which results in invention of birth control measures, family planning, late marriages, etc. So this proves a vital theory in making the people wise.

Global trade : As we know that a single country is not sufficient to fulfill the needs of his mankind. So there is a need of exchange of commodities within the countries. As this theory believes that there is no such exchange and which makes the ecomisits think further regarding this aspect that global trade is a need for curbing such issue of food shortage in the economy.

Applicability : This theory is applicable to underdeveloped countries because the real aim of this theory is to avoid the problem of poverty and not of starvation so that there could be a rise in per capita income. So this theory is still applicable to many under developed countries where there is a need to maintain the balance between the population growth and food supply.  

So if we see that this theory has both the positive and negative aspects. It help in making people lives better by making them aware about the future problems and this is still applicable in various countries which is especially under developed. So this could be applied as per the needs of any country.