Britain's Economic Growth During The Industrial Revolution

Thomas Robert Malthus (1766-1834) was a famous Economist, famous for his work on population growth, including “An Essay of the Principle of Population (1798).” This principle explained Malthus’ views regarding that any economic growth or advances in technology would directly lead to population growth. According to Malthus, as the population grows exponentially and the food supply grows arithmetically, the population would not be sustained. Malthus demonstrated two types of checks that affect the population. He encouraged ‘preventative checks’ such as late marriage and moral constraint, to lower the birth rate. However in the absence of preventative checks, ‘positive checks’ would automatically occur, directly increasing the death rate. These include, war,
Firstly it is important to identify how sustained economic growth first came about and what the main factors were behind this growth. The Industrial Revolution in Britain during the 18th century marked the emergence of sustained economic growth. During this period many new producer and consumer goods were invented that led to greater possibilities to generate economic growth. Sectors such as the cotton textile sector emerged at a British dominated industry, contributing to high volume export-led growth, where at one point cotton accounted for more than 40% of annual British exports. In addition steam powered engines and railways were also part of the industrial revolution and the transition away from the agricultural industry. Steam power led to improvements in technical efficiency, whist railways created greater employment, free choice of location and most importantly a national trading economy. Nevertheless inventions in both the cotton and rail industry symbolised capital accumulation that led to sustained economic growth within the UK and was soon to spread across