Malthus

Malthus


* Thomas Malthus, was a British Clergyman/economist.
* He came up with the Malthusian Theory of Population Growth. The salient points of his theory were
1. Food production increased at an arithmetic ratio (1, 2, 3...) while population increased at an exponential ratio (1, 2, 4, 8...).
2. Population growth would outstrip food supply, and mass starvation would follow.
3. Man is incapable of controlling his own numbers, so natural calamities such as floods and epidemics serve to control/reduce his numbers.
* His theory was wrong in a number of ways:
1. He failed to foresee the agrarian revolution that would greatly increase food production.
2. Man has proven he is capable of controlling his numbers, such as in China withe the one-child per family policy.
3. The population has not grown as rapidly as he predicted.