Malthus, Thomas Robert
ENGLISH CLASSICAL ECONOMIST AND CLERGYMAN
(1766–1834)
Thomas Robert Malthus is best remembered for his 1798 treatise titled
An Essay on the Principle of Population as it Affects the Future
Improvement of Society.
Thomas Robert Malthus.
(
Corbis-Bettmann. Reproduced by permission.
)
In that work, he argued that because food production increased
arithmetically
and human population increased in a more rapid
geometric
manner, society would ultimately face dire consequences because of
decreasing
per capita
food availability. Because of this thesis, economics has been coined
"the dismal science." Detractors note that it is only a
hypothesis and not a proven theory. Furthermore, they argue that human
conditions since Malthus have improved in many ways due to technological
innovation. The Malthusian hypothesis today remains influential in
environmental thought because of its warning about unrestrained population
growth.
Internet Resource
The International Society of Malthus Web site, edited by Ronald Bleier.
Available from
http://www.igc.org/desip/malthus
.
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