Question

Some historians hold that economic theory can be explained as an intellectual reaction to problems of the times. Use this thesis to explain Malthuss contributions to economic thought.

Answer 1

The concept of Malthus's population principle(also known as Population Trap) are clear. There is an inherent divergence between growth of population and the factors that needed to sustain it. But in Malthus's principle, concepts that are the foundations of the principle, are used in complex ways. Here we can examine population problem envisaged by Malthus, and finds each one wanting, before concluding that Malthus appears to advocate a diversified and balanced economy. Now if we consider the approach of Malthus towards population principle, we can conclude the following,

Malthus concludes that Human reproduction is a consequence of deliberate human action and a sensibile one must not increase his family size to keep up the growth and earnings.He also stated that because of diminishing return to the fixed factors, land, food supplies could expand only at a roughly arithmetic rate. So, with a expand in population, his or her marginal contribution to food production would actually start to decline.
Now if we discuss the approach in the context of time, three factors, that appear to account for the formation of Malthus’s theory.

1. Population pressure on England's food supply. Till 1970, England had been largely self-sufficient in its food supply, but after that, England felt necessary to import foods.
2. The poverty increased significantly specially in the lower income classes. With the industry revolution, England became more urbanized, as home production was replaced by factory production and with growth of towns,  the misery of the lower income class appeared to increase.
3. The thid factor was influenced by  Utopian writers William Godwin and Marquis de Condorcet. The basic view of Godwin and Condorcet, which Daniel Malthus(Father of Robert Malthus) accepted, was that the character of an individual is not inherited but is shaped by the environment in which he or she lives. So, Daniel concluded that the element primarily responsible was government, and for this reason Godwin is sometimes called the father of philosophical anarchism. But, Robert tried to prove the the ideas his father had accepted were incorrect. In particular, he tried to prove the first edition of his essay on population that poverty and misery were not the result of social and political institutions and that changes in these institutions would not remove the evils of the society. He published this view as writing in 1798.