Question

“The power of population is so superior to the power of the earth to produce subsistence for man, that premature death must in some shape or other visit the human race. The vices of mankind are active and able ministers of depopulation.” Formulate, why Malthusian theory of population is a pessimistic one?

Answer 1

• As per Malthusian theory, population grows in geometric progression, whereas agricultural production can only grow in arithmetic progression.
• According to him, humanity has only a limited ability to voluntarily reduce the growth of its population.