The “Economic Thought of Malthus” provides an overview of Thomas Robert Malthus's economic ideas. 📘 Title: ECONOMIC THOUGHT - THOMAS ROBERT MALTHUS 🔷 1. Malthusian Theory of Population Population Growth: Increases geometrically/exponentially. Food Supply: Increases only arithmetically. Result: This imbalance leads to food shortages, which create a crisis where people die due to famine or other hardships. 🔷 2. Checks on Population Positive Checks: Natural disasters, diseases, famines, wars, pandemics. Preventive Checks: Late marriages, modest living, self-restraint. These checks are meant to avoid the Malthusian Catastrophe. 🔷 3. Criticisms of Malthus Incorrect predictions about population and food supply. Ignored scientific innovations and technological advancement. Assumed that natural calamities are a regular result of overpopulation. 🔷 4. Concept of Growth Emphasis on useful and necessary goods. Economic progress is driven not just by production, but also by fair distribution of goods. 🔷 5. Capital Accumulation Driven by: production, fertile soil, savings by capitalists, labour-saving inventions. Foreign trade accelerates economic growth. Workers are generally too poor to save; hence, capitalists’ savings are key. 🔷 6. Effective Demand Money influences the economy beyond just being a medium of exchange. Labour is demanded only when its output value exceeds its wage. More equal wealth distribution boosts effective demand. Encouraged by: land redistribution, trade (internal & external), and maintenance of non-productive consumers. 🔷 7. Non-Economic Factors Property rights, political structure, legal system, and administrative quality influence economic outcomes.

1. ECONOMIC THOUGHT
THOMAS ROBERT MALTHUS

2. Malthusian Theory
 Population growth occurs in a geometric or exponential pattern, the food supply
grows in a arithmetic pattern.
 The food supply grows slower than the population growth, so disequilibrium
develops, shortage of food supply will occur.
 Consequently, people will not have enough food to survive, so people will die
due to crisis.

4. Checks on population
Positive checks: famines, earthquakes, floods, diseases,
pandemics, wars and other natural disasters, etc.
Preventive checks: late marriage, self-control, modest living,
etc.
=> These checks will lead to Malthusian catastrophe.

5. Criticisms
• Prediction about population growth is not right.
• His prediction about shortage of food supply is not right.
• He ignored scientific innovations and technological advancements.
• He assumed that natural calamities always occur in overpopulation.

6. Concept of growth
 Increase in wealth as well as value, only useful and necessary goods should be produced
 Goods with no utility should not be produced
 Economic progress depends on distribution of goods not only on production of goods
(should be combined in an appropriate proportions).

7. Accumulation of Capital
 Production is facilitated
i. Fertility of soil
ii. Accumulation of capital
iii. Labour saving inventions
 The main source of capital accumulation is higher profits, they come from savings of
capitalists because, workers are too poor to save.
 Foreign trade is important for speeding up economic growth.

8. Effective Demand
• Money is not just a medium of exchange, value of money changes and that changes will
have effects on the economy.
• Additional labour will be in demand only if the value of its produce exceeds its wages.
• Effective demand can be increased through a more egalitarian distribution of wealth.
• Division of wealth is favoured by - Division of landed property , internal and external
commerce, the maintenance of unproductive consumers.

9. Non-economic factors
 Security of property
 Political constitution of a country
 The excellence of the country’s law
 Administration

10. Thank you!