Overview
- Looks at the economics, politics and life of Thomas Robert Malthus
- Shows how Malthus’s thought evolved through the successive editions of the Essay on Population and of the Principles
- Utilises unpublished papers kept the the Bodleian Library, the British Library, Jesus College and the Marshall Libraries at Cambridge
- Examines correspondence with Ricardo and how other authors such as as Godwin, Paley, Lauderdale, Marx and Darwin amplify the debate
Part of the book series: Great Thinkers in Economics (GTE)
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Table of contents (14 chapters)
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Front Matter
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Back Matter
Keywords
- Thomas Robert Malthus
- History of economic thought
- Population economics
- Population Malthus
- Agricultural protection
- Biological economics
- Economic ethics
- Essay on Population
- High Price of Provisions
- Observations on the Effects of the Corn Laws
- Inquiry into the Nature of Rent
- Importation of Foreign Corn
- Political justice
- Welfare economics
About this book
Thomas Robert Malthus (1766-1834) was a leading figure in the British classical school of economics, best-known for extending the insights of Adam Smith at a time of revolutionary improvements in agriculture and industry. This book explores the way in which he accounted for the tendency to overpopulation, the exhaustion of arable land and the deficiency of effective demand.
Malthus relied on historical and empirical evidence in the spirit of Bacon and Hume, but also backed up his data with a priori hypotheses that link him to his contemporary, David Ricardo. Malthus was strongly in favour of free trade, the minimal State, the gold standard and the abolition of poverty relief. Always a pragmatist, however, he was just as much in favour of public education, contra-cyclical public works and a safety net of tariffs and bounties to encourage national self-sufficiency with regard to food. He was both an economist and a clergyman and saw the two roles as interconnected. Malthus believed that a benevolent Deity had created vice and misery in order to shake human beings out of their natural indolence that would otherwise have condemned them to still greater distress.
This title provides a clear and comprehensive examination of Malthus’s economic and social thought. It will be of interest to students and scholars alike.
Authors and Affiliations
About the author
Bibliographic Information
Book Title: Thomas Robert Malthus
Authors: David Reisman
Series Title: Great Thinkers in Economics
DOI: https://doi.org/10.1007/978-3-030-01956-3
Publisher: Palgrave Macmillan Cham
eBook Packages: Economics and Finance, Economics and Finance (R0)
Copyright Information: The Editor(s) (if applicable) and The Author(s) 2018
Hardcover ISBN: 978-3-030-01955-6Published: 18 October 2018
Softcover ISBN: 978-3-030-13203-3Published: 10 December 2019
eBook ISBN: 978-3-030-01956-3Published: 10 October 2018
Series ISSN: 2662-6276
Series E-ISSN: 2662-6284
Edition Number: 1
Number of Pages: VIII, 312
Topics: History of Economic Thought/Methodology, Population Economics, Social Choice/Welfare Economics/Public Choice/Political Economy, Economic History, Public Economics, Agricultural Economics