Thomas Malthus: 18th century British philosopher and economist famous for ideas on population growth

Malthusian Perspective: population growth is potentially exponential while food supply growth is arithmetical at best (POVERTY CAUSES OVERPOPULATION)

Principles of Population: food and passion between the sexes is necessary to the existence of man therefore there is prescribed poverty for a certain segment of humanity

people have natural urge to reproduce but food supply can't keep up

Positive Check: measures of moral or physical nature which prematurely weaken and destroy human frame (causes of mortality)

Preventive Check: limits to birth (birth control)

moral restraint = postpone marriage and remain chaste until you can support a large family (only acceptable method according to Malthus)

Food Insecurity: state of being without reliable access to a sufficient quantity of affordable and nutritious food

food production does not equal food security

Neo-malthusian: those who criticize Malthus's insistence on the value of moral restraint while accepting many of his other conclusions

favor birth control, led to contraception awareness
prudential restraint: waiting until you can support a family, but not necessarily refraining from premarital sex

Tragedy of the Commons: economic theory of a situation within a shared resource system where individual users acting independently according to their own self-interest behave contrary to the common good of all users by depleting or spoiling that resource through their collective action

cost shared by all --> low cost to individual
benefits reaped by one --> high benefit to individual
everyone using resources, no checks on individual usage

Demographic Transition: transition from high birth and death rates to lower birth and death rates as a country/region develops from a pre-industrial to an industrial economic system

Birth rates = Death rates incipient decline
Birth rates >> Death rates
Birth rates > Death rates (natural increase) transitional growth
Birth rates ~ Death rates
Birth rates < Death rates (natural decrease)

Anti-natalist: philosophical position that assigns negative value to birth

Pro-natalist: advocation/support of high birth rate

Next up

Previous

Malthus and the Demographic Transition