Principles of Population (Essential Color Illustration Treasured Edition)

Author: (English) Malthus
Publisher:
Publish Date: 2007-02-01
Features: In the 21st century, China and India, the superpowers of population, are rapidly rising. Is the "Principle of Population" finally wrong? Or are we about to face the bottleneck of development?
"The founder of political economy to population economy in multiple economic fields"
– Malthus's classic work
Profoundly reveals the resource limits of human development. A stunning prophecy that has been repeatedly verified in the past 200 years.
Comprehensively reveals the fundamental forces that determine human wealth or poverty, war or peace.
A historically most controversial economic masterpiece. Darwin, Marx, and Ricardo, among other academic giants, were all deeply influenced by it.
From Malthus's theory, we have gained the strongest economic arguments for social reform, because even if Malthus was completely right, reform must still be carried out. The reason is that only through such reform, only by educating the masses through this reform, can the instinct of reproduction be morally restricted. And Malthus himself believed that this restriction was the easiest and most effective way to deal with population surplus.
– Engels
Regarding Mr. Malthus's "Principle of Population," I am honored to have the opportunity to praise it here. The attacks of those who oppose this great work can only prove its power. I believe that its deserved reputation will spread far and wide as economics develops, because it has made very outstanding contributions to this discipline.
– David Ricardo
Some call him a benefactor of humanity, while others call him a demon. Some call him a profound thinker, while others call him a fool, or associate it with the name of a person who greatly popularized this attitude in the 19th century, calling it Malthusianism – it emerged among economists as early as the mid-18th century.
– Joseph Schumpeter
He (Malthus) sought to apply normative thinking methods to factual data, and through intuition to select methods similar to normative principles to observe these facts, thereby explaining problems and proposing solutions. In short, after passing through the larval stage of a moralist and the pupal stage of a historian, he finally emerged as an economist, spreading his wings of thought and soaring over the world.
– Keynes
This article shattered the unrealistic dream of a harmonious world overnight. With just a few pages of text, Malthus destroyed the (: "" means "castles in the air" or "fantastical theories") of the self-satisfied thinkers of the time.
– Robert Heilbroner
The first edition of "Principle of Population" published in early 1788 immediately caused a sensation in society with its sharp and intense views. Malthus believed that there was an unavoidable contradiction between a geometrically growing population and an arithmetically growing supply of living resources. If humanity could not rationally restrain population growth, it would inevitably fall into a cycle of happiness and disaster.
After experiencing the economic depression of the 1930s and the population explosion of the 1970s, the theory that restricting population growth is the foundation for establishing social harmony was once regarded as an unshakable axiom by countries around the world. However, with the rapid rise of China and India, the two superpowers of population, in the 21st century, the huge population and equally huge market have achieved a new model of economic takeoff, undoubtedly delivering a blow to Malthus's population theory. The famous diagnosis that population growth will become an insurmountable obstacle to wealth growth may still face the bottleneck that Malthus's prophecy foretold if it becomes a problem encountered by the developing emerging giants. People will wait and see.
"Principle of Population" was published in six editions before 1826, and this premium illustrated edition is meticulously compiled based on the most representative second edition. Through 400 carefully selected historical illustrations that supplement and interpret the book's themes, readers will not only savor the rational textual narration but also delve into the profound academic world of the master through these frozen moments in history.