Thomas Malthus &Milton Friedman

Thomas Robert Malthus

• Pessimistic Economics
• First professional economist

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• Challenged Adam Smith’s view
•  Predicted: inevitable poverty&famine for the masses!
• thoughts/writing: influenced by existing economic conditions of Britain

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• o Industrial Revolution
• o Napoleon Bonaparte 

Population&good production

• Population
• Food = necessary to sustain human life
• Human SEXual instinct = Constant

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• 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

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

2 population control types

•  Positive checks: Increase death rates war, famine, disease, epidemics
•  Preventive checks

MALTHUS FAILED to predict two developments

• Technological breakthroughs in field of agriculture (Green Revolution)
• Continued Urbanization

Milton Friedman

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• was influenced by unproductive government
• full employment resulted in inflation and slow  increase in public debt
• increasing spending and reducing public debt = inflation

Laissez-Faire Capitalism

Free markets will resolve economic problems

Free Market also applies to education

Monetarism

• Friedman was a leading member
• regulation money supply
• increased money supply per year should equal long term growth rate
• (3-5%)

comparison time...

So...

• Both dealt with economic conditions
• Friedman: leave things as they are
• Malthus: leaving things as they are will lead to 
• poverty and famine

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