ROBERT MALTHUS He was born in 1766 He

ROBERT MALTHUS • He was born in 1766. • He is famous for his theory of population. • He is pessimist • He was a classical economist Main works 1. An essay on population 2. Principles of political economy He published “Essay on Population” in 1796.

Contributions • Malthusian theory of population is one of the well known theories about the growth of population. • This theory discusses the relationship between population and food problem. • It is based on the Law of Diminishing returns. • According to him, population increases at faster rate than food supply. • This theory based on the assumptions that food is necessary for human existence. • Population increases in a geometric ratio i. e at the rate of 2, 4, 8, 16, 32 etc. • He believed that population of a country when unchecked would double itself in every twenty five years.

• Food supply increases in an arithmetical ratio like 1, 2, 3, 4, 5 etc • Food supply will not increase as fast as population on account of the influence of the law of Diminishing returns on land • So after some years there will not be enough food for all • So the growth of population has to be controlled. • This can be done by adopting • 1. Preventive checks 2. Positive checks • Malthus has spoken two kinds of checks to population 1. Positive checks 2. Preventive checks

Preventive Checks These checks are purely moral character. That is moral restraint like postponement of marriage, never marry. Positive checks • Positive checks are imposed by war, famine and disease. These increase the death rate. • If population is not checked by these two methods, then, there would not be enough food supply for all. • There would be famine, starvation and death people would live in misery

• He presents a dark and pessimistic picture about the future mankind. • He was not favoured the birth control methods advocated by new Malthusians. • But in India birth control techniques adopted in the family planning programmes are essential for checking the growth of population. • Malthus believed the poor are responsible for misery and poverty because they have failed to restrict their numbers.

Criticism • Population does not grow as Malthus has suggested. His ratio has been proved wrong by history • It is true in many countries. Population has increased at a rapid rate. Due to increase in supply of food, people have not died of hunger • This theory is based on Law of Diminishing Returns. But the agriculture revolution helps to increase food supply and other agricultural products • To meet the shortage of food, food may be imported from other countries • Malthus has over emphasized between the population and food supply • Any addition to population is undesirable