Briefly discuss Malthus's predictions of population and resources and some of its criticisms

Question

What will be an ideal response?

Answer 1

Answer: In his 1798 essay titled An Essay on the Principle of Population, Thomas Malthus argued that the world's rate of population increase was far outrunning the development of food supplies. He claimed that population was growing much more rapidly than Earth's food supply because population increased geometrically, whereas food supply increased arithmetically.

There are arguments supporting and criticizing Malthus' views. Supporters of Malthus argue that two characteristics of recent population growth make his thesis more frightening than when it was first written more than 200 years ago.

First, in Malthus's time only a few relatively wealthy countries had entered stage 2 of the demographic transition. Malthus failed to anticipate the rapid population growth of poor countries as medical technology was transferred from MDCs to LDC. As a result of this, he underestimated the gap between population growth and resources as we see in some countries today.

Secondly, world population growth is outstripping a wide variety of resources, not just food production. According to contemporary supporters of Malthus, wars and civil violence will increase in the coming years because of scarcities of clean air, potable water, suitable farmland and fuel, as well as of food.

Many geographers criticize Malthus's theory that population growth depletes resources. They argue that a larger population could stimulate economic growth and, therefore, production of more food. Population growth could generate more customers and more ideas for improving technology. Some theorists point to social injustice and economic institutions as the real culprits of today's poverty and hunger. Some theorists argue that social welfare problems are responsible for a lack of economic development. They argue that the world possesses sufficient resources to eliminate global hunger and poverty, if only these resources were shared equally. Whatever position one takes, it is clear that Malthus' ideas are still relevant today.