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![ THOMAS MALTHUS’ own form
of laizzes faire:
“We should facilitate the
operations of nature in
producing mortality.”
“Instead of recommending
cleanliness to the poor, we
should encourage the contrary.
We should make streets
narrower, crowd more people
into houses, and court the return
of the plague. We should [reject]
specific remedies for diseases.”](https://image.slidesharecdn.com/presentationonhistory2-150228065531-conversion-gate02/75/Malthus-and-Population-16-2048.jpg)
Uploaded byIrene Sumalde
Malthus and Population
The document discusses the theories of population and economics primarily through the lens of Thomas Malthus, who argued that population growth leads to misery due to natural limitations on food supply. Malthus opposed ideas from contemporaries like William Godwin and Marquis de Condorcet, asserting that societal ills were a result of excessive human fertility, rather than flawed institutions. It also touches on the impact of Malthus's ideas on policies such as the Poor Laws and their influence on later economists, notably John Maynard Keynes.
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Malthus and Population
- 2. An Essay Onthe Principle of Population Principles of Political Economy
- 3. Led tothe “POOR LAWS” – giving the poor minimum income despite their earnings. (if you have few money, the government will give you extra to sustain/ feed yourself).
- 4. Growing populationnecessitated import of food. IMPORTS PRICE OF DOMESTIC GRAIN RENTAL INCOME Fearing this, They passed a law (Corn Laws) imposing high tariffs on imported grain. *COMPETITION DRIVES DOWN PRICES OF GOODS
- 5. WILLIAM GODWIN– Population growth would not be a problem, once population limit is reached, humanity will refuse to propagate further. MARQUIS DE CONDORCET Population would increase as a result of beneficent reforms, but the food supply would increase more rapidly.
- 6. THE IDEASOF CONDORCET AND GODWIN WERE REJECTED BY MALTHUS. Vices and misery that plague society are not because of evil human institutions, as put by Condorcet, but the prolific fertility of the human race. The abolition of war by Condorcet would remove an essential remedy for population growth. He rejected Godwin’s egalitarian society which mean more food for masses. Such welfare programs would counter hunger as a factor limiting population growth.
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- 9. The PopulationTheory was proposed earlier, by Richard Cantillon. Food is restricted by the amount of Land. Related to Turgo’s Law of Diminishing Productivity.
- 10. The PreventiveChecks approved by Malthus, he termed “MORAL RESTRAINT” Reduces Birth Rate CELIBACY MARRY AT A LATER AGE
- 11.
- 13. Thomas Malthus:represented “punishments” for people who had not practiced “moral restraint”. Includes Famine, Misery, Plague and War.
- 16. THOMAS MALTHUS’own form of laizzes faire: “We should facilitate the operations of nature in producing mortality.” “Instead of recommending cleanliness to the poor, we should encourage the contrary. We should make streets narrower, crowd more people into houses, and court the return of the plague. We should [reject] specific remedies for diseases.”
- 17. Malthus: “With regardto illegitimate children, they should not have parish assistance, but be left entirely to the support of private charity.” Following Malthus Ideas, in 1834, Law abolished all relief for able-bodied people outside workhouses.
- 18. Charles Dickens' OliverTwist is a perfect portrayal of British Society and the effect of Thomas Malthus's ideas on the Poor Laws. “Oliver, an innocent child, is trapped in a world where his only options seem to be the workhouse, Fagin's gang, a prison, or an early grave.” - Wikipedia
- 19. POPULATION POPULATION SUBSISTENCE WAGE SUBSISTENCE WAGE THEREFORE, ONLY MORAL RESTRAINTCAN IMPROVE STANDARD OF LIVING
- 20. INDUSTRIAL REVOLUTION LED TO A DRAMATIC INCREASEIN POPULATION DUE TO IMPROVEMENTS IN MEDICINE, AT THE SAME TIME AN INCREASE IN FOOD DUE TO TECHONOLOGICAL PROGRESS.
- 21. Rejection of Say’s Law Importance ofLandlords Malthus’ support of Corn Laws
- 22. SAYS’ LAW: “Thelevel of aggregate demand will be exactly equal to the amount of product that manufacturers choose to produce. ” Supply always = Demand
- 23.
- 24. Belief inSay’s law will induce people to produce more than they can sell. So that, Demand > Supply
- 25. GLUT: “To flood (themarket) with goods so that supply exceeds demand.” - Merriam Webster’s Dictionary
- 26. Malthus feltthat the key to avoiding such gluts lay in the amount spent by the land- owning class. If they spent freely, there would be adequate demand, gluts would be avoided and unemployment would be low. SPENDING BY LANDLORDS EFFECTIVE DEMAND
- 27. THEREFORE, Workersalone cant buy all the goods produced. The extra output is bought by capitalists/ landlords. TOTAL WAGE< TOTAL VALUE OF PRODUCTS
- 28. Malthus feltthat the key to avoiding such gluts lay in the amount spent by the land- owning class. If they spent freely, there would be adequate demand, gluts would be avoided and unemployment would be low. SPENDING BY LANDLORDS EFFECTIVE DEMAND
- 29. As aresult, THOMAS ADVOCATED THE CORN LAW’S (INCREASE ON TARRIFS IMPOSED ON IMPORTED CORN). TARRIF ON IMPORTED CORN PRICE OF IMPORTS RENT/ INCOME OF LANDLORDS SPENDING BY LANDLORDS EFFECTIVE DEMAND THEREBY PREVENTING MARKET GLUT PEOPE WILL PREFER TO BUY LOCAL PRODUCE
- 30. THOMAS MALTHUSRECOMMENDS GOVERNMENT SPENDING ON PUBLIC WORKS IN TIMES OF ECONOMIC DISTRESS.
- 31. Malthus’ ideashad an impact on keynes. Keynes believed that when spending increases in an economy, earnings also increase, which can lead to even more spending and earnings. He also proposed to increase government spending in times of depression which is the same with malthus. Franklin Roosevelt did so during the great depression which helped revive the US Economy.
- 32. Thomas Malthusfailed to address the processes by which people obtain food. EVEN WITH ENOUGH FOOD SUPPLY, STARVATION CAN STILL HAPPEN. AMARTYA SEN : IF A SEGMENT OF THE POPULATION LACKS ADEQUATE INCOME TO PURCHASE FOOD, FAMINE MAY OCCUR EVEN IF FOOD IS AVAILABLE.
- 33. “Currently, theworld can sustain 11 billion people. Today we have 7 billion people. And yet, A lot of people in the developing world are dying of hunger.” – SciShow
- 34. “The problem is not population,the problem is how many rich people can the world sustain.” – SciShow, The Science of Overpopulation
- 35. PPT by IreneSumalde
Editor's Notes
- #4 The Poor laws – basically, this is about the government giving poor people money in order to feeed themselves which was rejected by malthus mainly because such aid will only make it okay for poor people to continue giving birth to children since anyway, the government will support them.
- #5 The parliament which is composed of landlords feared a decrease in the price of their rents due to an increase in imports. In order to avoid that, they passed the corn laws.
- #17 Laizzes faire means “No intervention”. If before Laizzes faire is “no government intervention in the part of trade”. In Maltus’ Case, Its about not impeding Nature to exercise its positive checks. Maltus believed that Plagues, War, and Sickness must not be prevented because these are nature’s way of moderating population. This is again related to the “Natural Law” talked about on past discussions.
- #19 Charles Dickens’ Oliver Twist has something to do with the Poor Laws.
- #20 When Population increases, demand for labor increases, thereby lowering bargaining power and therefore wage. Even without being mentioned, when population goes down income per capita (income pre person) increases. This leads families to have room for more children therefore increasing populaton. On the other hand if families have too much children, they starve – (income per capita/person decreases).
- #21 Trains led to easier transport of goods. And machines made production more efficient.
- #34 This further reinforces amartya sen when he said that population alone is not the problem.
- #35 - Image: Obesity is high in rankings. Infact, more people are dying of obesity that hunger. This further reinforces the problem of “allocation of resources”. - The crop that needs the most water is not corn, but to much surprise, grass. People spend a lot of water on their lawns. And yet water too, is a resource becoming scarce. There are recommendations that countries imitate singapore for their water management.