Thomas Malthus

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Thomas Malthus
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• A bit of background information
• Born in 1766
• Thomas preferred to be called Robert his middle
  name.
• He was ordained a minister in 1788.
• Married at the age of 38, had a happy marriage
  and three children.
• Professor of Political Science at the college of
  Haileyburg.
• First to talk about survival of the fittest.
• British Economist.

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• In Malthuss 1798 Essay he stated 8 major points
• Population level is severely limited by
  subsistence
• When the means of subsistence increases,
  population increases
• Population pressures stimulate increases in
  productivity
• Increases in productivity stimulates further
  population growth
• Since this productivity can never keep up with
  the potential of population growth for long,
  there must be strong checks on population to keep
  it in line with carrying capacity.
• It is through individual cost/benefit decisions
  regarding sex, work, and children that population
  and production are expanded or contracted.
• Checks will come into operation as population
  exceeds subsistence level.
• The nature of these checks will have significant
  effect on the rest of the sociocultural
  systemspecifically misery, vice, and poverty.

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Thomas Robert Malthus decided to write down his
own ideas after reading ideas from his father and
his associate. Also after reading the ideas
William Godwin and the Marquis de Condoret.
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• Thomas Malthuss Ideas were greatly disproven.
• Malthus influenced people such as
• Michael H. Hart
• David Ricardo
• William Paley
• Charles Darwin
• Alfred Wallace

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Although Malthuss ideas were not agreed with,
Charles Darwin and Alfred Wallace were led to the
theory of evolution through reading about his
ideas.