Thomas Robert Malthus is a major researcher in economics in England. His works were published at the beginning of the XIX century, and caused a lot of controversy in the scientific community. However, to some extent, his views have not lost their relevance to this day.
Start of Malthus research
Thomas Robert Malthus was born into a wealthy family of a landowner near London. His father was a very intelligent and educated person who talked with many philosophers and economists of his time. Since Thomas was the youngest child in the family, by tradition he had to embark on the path of a spiritual career. After studying at a college at Cambridge University, he takes the priesthood and becomes a local priest.
Despite this, Thomas Malthus, always being indifferent to scientific research, begins to simultaneously work as a college teacher. He spends almost all his leisure time in conversations with his father, which are devoted to the relationship between natural conditions and the economy.
What did Malthus study?
Like other researchers of the past in the field of economics, the subject of his study, Malthus saw the mechanisms of increasing wealth, ways of developing material production. He is trying to connect the issues of economy and population growth.
The Thomas Malthus Population Act became the basis for the writings of scholars such as C. Darwin, D. Ricardo, and others. The concept itself was later described by Malthus in his book. The main idea of his theory is that the population has a direct impact on the welfare of society.
The abundance of the species Homo Sapiens, says Malthus, began to increase only about 8 millennia ago, when hunting and gathering were replaced by a sedentary lifestyle. At that time, there were about 10 million people on the whole earth. Then the number of people on the globe begins to grow rapidly. Already in 1820, this figure reaches a billion people. By 1959, the number of inhabitants of the Earth was already about three billion. Only 13 years later, a five billionth person was born.
Brief statement of the concept
Thomas Malthus’s law states that the instinct that exists in all living beings causes them to multiply rapidly - faster than this can be allowed by the amount of food and material wealth available to society. The consequences of this law are dedicated to his work.
Malthus notes that, despite instinctive impulses, the voice of the mind also works in humans. After all, perhaps he will not be able to feed all his children. If a person listens to this rational kernel, then this, as Thomas Malthus puts it, will happen “to the detriment of virtue”. If he listens to the voice of instinct and procreate offspring, the population will grow faster than is allowed by the available means, and, therefore, will begin to decrease. The scientist notes that the lack of food should regulate the number of people.
The first book that Thomas Malthus released was anonymous. She saw the light in 1798, and caused a lot of complaints and attacks. In order to improve his creation, Malthus goes on a trip to the cities of Europe. After five years, he again releases this publication - but under his own name. In total, during the life of Malthus, his book was published five times, and each time the circulation was larger.
The simplicity of Malthusianism
His concepts received great resonance already for the reason that they were simple and did not require the processing of complex facts or comparison of theories. All that was done by Malthus was the observation of life's realities. His findings seemed obvious: is it not true that a person can reproduce only insofar as he is able to feed offspring? Thomas Malthus noted that population growth is usually expressed exponentially, while an increase in economic benefits is arithmetic.
Malthus identified the livelihoods with food. According to the logic of his era, it was not possible to rapidly increase production capacity. After all, the improvement of technology was still taking place at a too slow pace, and natural wealth is always limited.
Cons theory
At the same time, Malthus was sure that even a capital gain under no circumstances could not compensate for the ever decreasing soil fertility coefficient. Fear of hunger is the only condition that holds back a person from uncontrolled reproduction, says Thomas Malthus. At the same time, population theory had many shortcomings and mutually exclusive points. For example, the researcher considered contraceptives “immoral”, and called their use “unacceptable under any circumstances”. Many scientists believe that the statistical calculations of his theory did not withstand any collision with the empirical indicators of those times.
Malthus theory today
It is believed that the concept of Thomas Malthus may be useful for overall development. However, to solve acute social issues, unfortunately, it is practically useless. According to modern researchers, the problem of overpopulation today is not to bridge the gap between the actual and optimal population. The necessary steps in social policy should concern the regulation of the birth rate. In addition, modern studies show that population growth is a prerequisite for the growth of wealth.