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Malthus was right about what? He was wrong about nearly every single main hypothesis he made! What are you saying he got right? http://www.economist.com/node/1

• ojbyrne 14y ago
  The book I referenced basically says that western civilization is an aberration caused by a unique set of characteristics, and that the vast majority of people in the world still live in subsistence conditions. Also that the west could easily slip back into those conditions.
  • mseebach 14y ago
    But what does that have to do with Malthus?
    • ojbyrne 14y ago
      The book says that many 3rd world countries are in a "Malthusian trap" - any increase in income levels results in a population increase that overwhelms the higher income. Bangladesh is a good example.
• pauljonas 14y ago
  Up until 1800, Malthus was spot-on -- any advance in technology that was greeted by population increase would snap back to an equilibrium, with war|disease|hunger inflicting the correction. Gregory Clarke goes into great detail, with statistics on caloric consumption, lifestyle, etc.. that show that the average person at the pre-dawn of the industrial revolution did not experience conditions much more favorable than those of Roman times. http://www.princeton.edu/~pkrugman/malthusian.png http://www.princeton.edu/~pkrugman/malthusian.png