Principles of Political Economy

Elibron Classics Replica of 1820 edition by John Murray, London.

Thomas Robert Malthus (1766-1834)

This British economist is most famous for the notion that whereas population increases geometrically, resources increase arithmetically—implying that an increasing population is doomed to be short of food and other necessities. Malthus concluded that this dilemma made such phenomena as disease and crime necessary for social stability, only later adding that morality, too, is a safeguard against social upheaval. His works include An Essay on the Principle of Population as It Affects the Future Improvement of Society, in which he sets forth these doctrines, and Principles of Political Economy.