2.4 — Thomas Malthus & The Population Principle — Readings

Monday, September 21, 2020

Required Readings:

• Thomas Malthus & Essay on the Principle of Population in Reader
• start Ch.5 “Ricardo and Malthus” in Landreth & Colander
• start Ch.3 “Population, Diminishing Returns and Rent” in Blaug

Recommended Readings:

The following Wikipedia entries can also provide more background:

• Thomas Malthus
• Jeremy Bentham
• James Mill
• John Stuart Mill
• William Godwin
• Thomas Malthus
• An Essay on the Principle of Population
• French Revolution
• English Poor Laws

Questions to Help Your Reading

• What are Malthus’s two assumptions and what are their importance for his conclusions?

• What is the difference between population growth and growth in agriculture?

• What are Malthus’s “checks” against population?