Thomas Robert Malthus

Malthus

Thomas Robert Malthus was a well-known economist as well as a clergyman. He was born on February 13th, 1766, in Surrey, England, and was the sixth of seven children. Malthus attended Cambridge in 1784 and graduated four years later with honors in mathematics. In 1789, Malthus became a deacon in the Church of England and curate of Okewood Chapel in Surrey. In 1798, he anonymously published his renowned work An Essay on the Principle of Population as it affects the Future Improvement of Society, with Remarks on the Speculations of Mr. Godwin, M. Condorcet, and other Writers. In 1803, Malthus published a second, much enlarged edition of the population essay. A year later, Malthus married Harriet Eckersall. In 1821, Malthus became a founding member of the Political Economy Club in London. In 1834, Malthus died at Bath, England. Other works published by Malthus include: A Letter to Samuel Whitbread, Observations on the Effects of the Corn Laws, An Inquiry into the Nature and Progress of Rent, and Principles of the Political Economy.

Of all his works, Malthus' Essay on the Principle of Population is the best known and the most controversial. Malthus' famous theory stated that population growth always tends to outrun the food supply. When unchecked, population would grow geometrically, while subsistence would only grow arithmetically. The natural checks that keep our human population in balance in balance with subsistence include war, famine and ill healt...