Was T. R. Malthus Right Or Wrong Regarding The Natural Regulator?
Was T.R. Malthus right or wrong regarding the "natural regulator"?
By Dimitrios Pastirmatzis
In an age where everyone were writings theories and predictions that the future will bring an era upon humanity better than the time man spent on Eden, Thomas Robert Malthus predicted the opposite. His theory of Overpopulation is what brought him, some say unjustified, ridicule by his peers and long after his death. Where others spoke of population increase bringing more and more happiness to the state, he spoke of overpopulation straining the resources of the planet. His later economic theories of regulated trade brought him to clash with ,soon to be friend, David Ricardo, one advocating regulation of trade while the other became a champion of Free Trade. My personal opinion is that while Marthus' warnings of overpopulation and the innability of food production keeping up with the …show more content…
In the revision everything was expanded and he included many examples of various countries from around the globe. He also suggested a gradual fading of the "Poor Laws", so that the gradual abolition would not harm anyone. Furthermore he proposed regulation of the export and import of food that would improve the prices in England and result in a augmented indigenous food production.(2) But his theories outlined in his works did not come to fruition. Improved agriculture, in the form of better tools, crop rotation and seed selection, presented an increase in food production allowed more while working less. This introduced an overabundance in foodstuffs that allowed for a large amount to be exported while keeping the populace more than satisfied and instead more births were "permitted" by the nations resources. The death rate also was diminished. Mortality rates dwindled, this drop being the result of better diet and better
By Dimitrios Pastirmatzis
In an age where everyone were writings theories and predictions that the future will bring an era upon humanity better than the time man spent on Eden, Thomas Robert Malthus predicted the opposite. His theory of Overpopulation is what brought him, some say unjustified, ridicule by his peers and long after his death. Where others spoke of population increase bringing more and more happiness to the state, he spoke of overpopulation straining the resources of the planet. His later economic theories of regulated trade brought him to clash with ,soon to be friend, David Ricardo, one advocating regulation of trade while the other became a champion of Free Trade. My personal opinion is that while Marthus' warnings of overpopulation and the innability of food production keeping up with the …show more content…
In the revision everything was expanded and he included many examples of various countries from around the globe. He also suggested a gradual fading of the "Poor Laws", so that the gradual abolition would not harm anyone. Furthermore he proposed regulation of the export and import of food that would improve the prices in England and result in a augmented indigenous food production.(2) But his theories outlined in his works did not come to fruition. Improved agriculture, in the form of better tools, crop rotation and seed selection, presented an increase in food production allowed more while working less. This introduced an overabundance in foodstuffs that allowed for a large amount to be exported while keeping the populace more than satisfied and instead more births were "permitted" by the nations resources. The death rate also was diminished. Mortality rates dwindled, this drop being the result of better diet and better