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.
