Thomas Robert Malthus studied mathematics and philosophy at St.
John's College, Cambridge. He is best known for for his dire
predictions of mass starvation resulting due to the fact that
population grows at an expoential rate, while the food supply
grows arithematically. Writing before the Industrial Revolution,
Malthus greatly underestimated the impact of technology.
According to Malthus, there exists both positive and preventive checks which may delay massive starvation. Preventive checks consist of things that would decrease the fertility rate, such as the postponement of marriage. Malthus did not have much confidence in the moral rectitude of people, and so, believed that preventive checks, which consists of war or natural catastrophe, would be the only viable check.
He had a lifelong friendship with David Ricardo, even though they were polar opposites when it came to economic ideology. Malthus explained their differences as follows: "The principal cause of error...among the scientific writers on political economy, appears to me to be a precipitate attempt to simplify and generalize...The first business of philosophy [science] is to acount for things as they are.
According to Ricardo, their differences lie in the fact that Malthus focused on immediate and tempoary effects while he focused on the long-term and permanent effects.
Works by Thomas Robert Malthus:
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