Thomas Malthus &Milton Friedman

Thomas Robert Malthus

• Pessimistic Economics
• First professional economist
• Predicted: inevitable poverty&famine for the masses! (if we leave things as is)

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• Thoughts/writing: influenced by existing economic conditions of Britain
• Industrial Revolution
• Napoleon Bonaparte
• Poor crop yields and population boom

Population&good production

• population
• Human sexual instinct = Constant 
• population will double every 25 years (Doubling effect)
•  Geometrical progression (exponential) : population growth
• Food production [arithmetical progression (linear)]

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•  (law of diminishing returns) 
• Growth in food production = limited 
• Malthusian dilemma

2 population control types

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• Pessimistic outlook: wages go up
• improved standard of living = reduce infant mortality rate
• increase faster than we can keep up!