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Malthusian Theory

1. The Malthusian Theory of Population proposed that population grows exponentially while food production increases arithmetically, leading to food shortages. 2. Malthus believed population would be controlled by positive checks like famine and war, and preventative checks like late marriage. This would result in a "Malthusian catastrophe." 3. The theory predicted diminishing returns on agricultural production would trap populations in cycles of food shortage, but critics argue technological advances increased food output beyond population growth.

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331 views3 pages

Malthusian Theory

1. The Malthusian Theory of Population proposed that population grows exponentially while food production increases arithmetically, leading to food shortages. 2. Malthus believed population would be controlled by positive checks like famine and war, and preventative checks like late marriage. This would result in a "Malthusian catastrophe." 3. The theory predicted diminishing returns on agricultural production would trap populations in cycles of food shortage, but critics argue technological advances increased food output beyond population growth.

Uploaded by

Ruchi
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We take content rights seriously. If you suspect this is your content, claim it here.
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Dr.

Mrinalini
Assistant Professor
(Guest Faculty)
Department of Economics
Magadh Mahila College, M.A Economics(Sem-2)
Patna University, Patna. Paper – CC-06
E-Mail- [email protected] Economics of Growth and Development.(Module-2)

The Malthusian Theory of Population


Definition

The Malthusian Theory of Population is a theory of exponential population growth


and arithmetic food supply growth. Thomas Robert Malthus, an English cleric and
scholar, published this theory in his 1798 writings, An Essay on the Principle of
Population.
Malthus believed that through preventative checks and positive checks, the
population would be controlled to balance the food supply with the population
level. These checks would lead to the Malthusian catastrophe.

Malthusian Theory of Population Explained

1. Population and Food Supply


Thomas Malthus theorized that populations grew in geometric progression. A
geometric progression is a sequence of numbers where each term after the first
is found by multiplying the previous one by a fixed, non-zero number called the
common ratio. For example, in the sequence 2, 10, 50, 250, 1250, the common
ratio is 5.
Additionally, he stated that food production increases in arithmetic progression.
An arithmetic progression is a sequence of numbers such that the difference
between the consecutive terms is constant. For example, in series 2, 5, 8, 11, 14,
17, the common difference of 3. He derived this conclusion due to the Law of
Diminishing Returns.
From this, we can conclude that populations will grow faster than the supply of
food. This exponential population growth will lead to a shortage of food.

2. Population Control
Malthus then argued that because there will be a higher population than the
availability of food, many people will die from the shortage of food. He theorized
that this correction would take place in the form of Positive Checks (or Natural
Checks) and Preventative Checks. These checks would lead to the Malthusian
catastrophe, which would bring the population level back to a „sustainable level.‟

A. Positive Checks or Natural Checks


He believed that natural forces would correct the imbalance between food supply
and population growth in the form of natural disasters such as floods and
earthquakes and human-made actions such as wars and famines.

B. Preventative Checks
To correct the imbalance, Malthus also suggested using preventative measures
to control the growth of the population. These measures include family planning,
late marriages, and celibacy.

Malthusian Trap

The Malthusian Trap (or “Malthusian Population Trap”) is the idea that higher
levels of food production created by more advanced agricultural techniques
create higher population levels, which then lead to food shortages because the
higher population needs to live on land that would have previously used to grow
crops.

Even as technological advancement would normally lead to per capita income


gains, theorizes Malthus, these gains are not achieved because in practice the
advancement also creates population growth. Once the population exceeds what
food supplies can support, this supposedly creates a Malthusian crisis with
widespread famine as well as rampant disease. This ends up decreasing the
population to earlier levels.
The reality, however, has been that population growth has not itself created the
crisis that Malthus predicted. We will discuss the ways in which the Malthusian
Trap has been disproven in the following section.

Criticisms of the Malthusian Theory of


Population

1. Population Growth
The gloom and doom forecasts put forward by Malthus have not played out. In
Western Europe, populations have grown (not at the rate Malthus predicted) and
food production has also risen because of technological advancements.

2. Food Production
Thanks to many technological advancements, food production has dramatically
increased over the past century. Often, the food production rate has grown
higher than the population growth rate. For example, during the 1930s in the US,
25% of the population worked in the agricultural sector while the total GDP was
less than $100 billion to the GDP. Today, less than 2% of the population works in
the agricultural sector, while the total GDP is over $14 trillion.
3. Global Trade
The limited availability of land at the time was the basis for Malthus‟ theory on
food production constraints. However, thanks to globalization, we can trade
goods and services for food, which increases the amount of food a country can
consume.
4. Calculations
Malthus did not provide calculations for the geometric growth of populations and
the arithmetic growth of food. Since then, experts have pointed out that the
growth rates are not consistent with Malthus‟ predictions.

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