Malthus Theory Essay

Malthus was a part of one of the most widely known economic school, the classical school. He was also one of the most controversial figures in the classical school. Malthus' two most well-known works are “An Essay on the Principle of Population” published in 1798, the main principles of his arguments were radically against to current thinking at the time. He insisted that increases in population would eventually diminish society ability to feed itself. Darwin’s theory of natural selection was influenced by Malthus' analysis of population growth. He insisted that increases in population would eventually diminish society ability to feed itself. The Darwin’s theory of natural selection was influenced by Malthus' analysis of population growth. The second was “Principles of Political Economy” published in 1820 where he stated that an excess of supply over demand was possible and it lead to unemployment. The main principles of his two theories were radically against to current thinking at the time. And he was often misinterpreted, but his views and idea became popular once again in the 20th century with the rise of Keynesian economics. Malthus died on December 23, 1834.

There were two major controversial issues occurring in England during this time, it was these two issues that made Malthus develop his theories. The first one was an increase in poverty. There was an overwhelming amount of poor people and unemployment due to the fact of the industrial Revolution, a rise in urbanization, and a rapid growth in population. This lead to the creation of the Poor Laws, which enacted a poverty relief system, it ensured that the poor were housed in workhouses, clothed and fed, the poor children would be granted the minimum schooling. They were ...

... middle of paper ...

... The Corn Laws lead Malthus to come up with another one of his controversial theories, the Theory of Market Gluts. This theory stated that an excess of supply over demand was regarded as possible, which will eventually lead to unemployment, a glut, and the key force that can prevent such glut lay in the hands of the land owning class. Malthus argued, “There must therefore be a considerable class of persons who have both the will and power to consume more material wealth than they produce, or the mercantile classes could not continue profitability to produce so much more than they consume. In this class the landlords no doubt stand pre-eminent.” (Thomas Malthus, Principles of Political Economy, 2nd edition, 1836) meaning that landlords must spend freely in order for there to be enough demand because they have the money to do so and will lead to lower unemployment. By