In 1798 wrote his 'Essay on
the Principle of Population as
it Affects the Future'
Argued that population grows at a
geometrical rate but food supply
grows at a arithmetical rate
Population growth: 1,2,4,8,16,32 etc.
Food supply growth 1,2,3,4,5,6 etc.
Said would inevitably be famine
unless mankind showed moral
restraint and limited its population
growth
Predictions did not come true
due to:
The agricultural revoltion
The discovery of new agricultural
lands e.g. North American Prairies
Emigration to new territories
e.g. North America and Australia
Pessimistic
The Prophet of Doom
Boserup and Simon
Ester Boserup was a
Danish agricultural
economist
1965: put forward theory to
explain why Malthus's ideas had
not proved to be true
Increases in population
act to stimulate changes
in agricultural methods
Necessity is the mother of
invention
Methods are used to increase
the intensity of production and
support the increased
population
Optimistic
Julian Simon was an
American economist
Wrote 'The Ultimate Resource'
Argued that the supply of
natural resources is infinite
As a resource appears to be running low, its price will
rise and so it will be worth people investing time and
thought in producing technology that will:
Find more of the resource
Extract more from what is
already known to be available
Discover alternate resources that
can replace the one in short supply
Produce alternative ways of
organising society to manage
without that resource
There is only one scarcity:
human brain power
Optimistic
The Club of Rome
The Club of Rome Model is a computer
based simulation of the future
development of the world's population
If present growth trends continue unchanged, the limits
to growth will be reached within the next 100 years
World population
Industrialisation
Pollution
Food production
Resource depletion
It is possible to alter these growth
trends and to establish a condition
of ecological and economic
stability that is sustainable far into
the future
The state of global equilibrium could be designed so that the basic material
needs of each person could be designed so that the basic material needs of
each person are satisfied and each person has equal opportunity to realize
their human potential