Malthus, Thomas (1766–1834)

Malthus could be described as England's first academic economist. He became famous for his 1798 pamphlet “An Essay on the Principle of Population as It Affects the Future Improvement on Society, With Remarks on the Speculation of Mr. Godwin, M. Condorcet and Other Writers.” His claim, sensational at the time, was that any growing population would eventually be unable to sustain itself.

Malthus was born in Dorking, Surrey, on February 13, 1766. He was the second son in a prosperous family of eight (two boys, six girls). Educated at home, he went up to Jesus College, Cambridge, in 1784, becoming a college fellow in 1793. He was ordained a minister of the Church of England in 1788, and in 1796, he became curate of Okewood Chapel near Albury in Surrey. For the next 8 years, he divided his time between Surrey (living with his parents) and Cambridge. When at home, he and his father had long debates on the nation's economy, and they are what led to his famous pamphlet.

Publication of the pamphlet, which was expanded in subsequent editions by the inclusion of population data that confirmed his reasoning, turned Malthus into an intellectual celebrity. In the 1803 edition of his work, Malthus suggested that one way of reducing population would be to give to the poor those rights possessed by the middle class, such as universal suffrage, state-run education, the elimination of the Poor Laws, and the establishment of a national labor market. In effect, he was arguing that an increase in income would lead to a decrease in family size. These were controversial views, unpopular with many, yet acknowledged by others as having merit.

In 1804, Malthus gave up his fellowship and got married. The following year, he was appointed Professor of Modern History and Political Economy at the East India College in Haileybury (now Haileybury College), a position he held for the rest of his life. Malthus remained prominent in economic discussions for the rest of his life. In 1814 he published Observations on the Effects of the Corn Laws, and of a Rise or Fall in the Price of Corn on the Agriculture and General Wealth of the Country, which presented both sides of the argument for these laws. By the following year, however, it was clear that he personally was in favor of restrictions on the importation of foreign corn.

In 1820, he published Principles of Political Economy, in which he disagreed with the “classical approach” proposed by David Ricardo, a good friend.

Malthus died in Bath on December 29, 1834, following a Christmas visit to his in-laws.