Thomas Robert Malthus(1766-1834) - a prominent representative of the classical political economy of England. The work of this scientist was formed mainly in the first quarter of the 19th century, but the results of his scientific research are also valuable for modern economic theory.

T. Malthus was born in the countryside near London in the family of a landowner.

The ideas of Thomas Malthus (1766-1834) become famous in the economic literature after the publication of his work "An Essay on the Law of Population" (1798). In 1798 the book appeared anonymously. To improve his work, he during the years 1799-1802. makes a trip to a number of European countries. And 5 years later, this time under his own name, in 1803 he published the second edition of this book (in total, during his lifetime, six editions were published with increasing circulation over and over again).

In 1820, T. Malthus published his main creative work “Principles of Political Economy”, considered in terms of their practical application, which, in theoretical and methodological terms, did not differ significantly from the famous “Principles of Political Economy” published three years earlier by his friend D. Ricardo.

Considering the problem of population, Malthus concludes that all the disasters of the people are connected with the natural laws of nature, in particular, with the general and eternal law of population. By virtue of this law, according to Malthus, the population is redundant in comparison with the means of subsistence it needs. At the same time, due to the excessive consumption of the landed aristocracy, the capitalists as a whole, the economy ensures the absence of overproduction of goods, sufficient demand for goods.

This work is a reaction to the emergence and wide dissemination of socialist ideas. Malthus set two goals in his work:

1. Explain the development of capitalism;

2. Explain the impossibility of changing people's living conditions with the help of revolutions and social reforms.

T. Malthus, like other classics, I saw the main task of political economy in multiplying, thanks, first of all, to the development of the production sector, material wealth of society. At the same time, a certain feature of his views in this regard was the first attempt to link the problems of economic growth and population growth, for before him in economic science it was considered as if “indisputable” that in a liberal economy the larger the population and the rate of its growth, the more beneficial it would supposedly be for the development of the national economy, and vice versa.

The main provisions of the theory:

1. Law of diminishing soil fertility. The product of the land may increase in arithmetic progression, and the population in geometrical progression, and the fertility of the land decreases with every year and generation. And the only way to improve the life of the population is to reduce the number of workers (decrease in the birth rate), but there can be offspring if the father can feed him, i.e. it is necessary to marry as late as possible and to forbid the marriages of the poor.

T. Malthus considered "lack of space and food" to be one of the main causes of wars. The population, according to Malthus, doubles every 25 years, increasing in geometric progression, and the means of subsistence, under the most favorable conditions, cannot increase faster than in arithmetic progression.

Critics of Malthus necessarily mention the incorrectness of his statistical studies. The fact is that Malthus gives data on soil fertility for England, and data on the increase in population - for America, where the population increased not only due to natural growth, but also due to emigration. It is also incorrect to compare the laws of nature (Malthus meant the animal and vegetable world where, without natural enemies, the population increases as long as free territories or means of food exist). People not only use the fruits of the earth, but also create them themselves.

2. Malthus agrees with Smith on the issue of determining the value of a commodity as the sum of profit, rent and wages, but he interprets profit itself in his own way: in his opinion, it is obtained only in the process of circulation, when the price is higher than value and is small. In order for it to exist, and for the capitalist to be interested in the development and expansion of production, thereby giving employment to the workers, it is necessary to ensure that he receives sufficient profit, and, consequently, the opportunity to sell the product above the cost of its creation. In order for a product at an inflated price to find its buyer, "third people" are needed who are not involved in the production process and whose income does not depend on production, who should have been only consumers. To the "third class", on which the crisis-free economy depends, Malthus refers landowners, and calls for the preservation of them as a class and the preservation of their private ownership of land inviolability.

In his theory of value, Malthus relied on "Smith's dogma".

3. Reproduction theory. An important aspect in which T. Malthus went further than D. Ricardo and other economists of that time is his study of the problems of implementing the total social product, i.e. reproduction theory. The fact is that, in accordance with what was achieved by the beginning of the 19th century. The “classical school” level of economic theory (especially “thanks” to A. Smith and D. Ricardo) considered the key problem in the economy to be accumulation, which ensures investment in further growth in production. Possible difficulties in consumption, ie. sales of the produced commodity mass were not taken into account and were assessed as an insignificant phenomenon. And this despite the industrial revolution that had ended by that time in the developed European countries, which was accompanied by such new social hardships as the ruin in the competitive struggle of small proprietors-entrepreneurs and unemployment.

T. Malthus, like D. Ricardo, believes that there are no limits to the expansion of production. And to the question about the scale of overproduction, he answers this way: “The question of overproduction is solely whether it can be universal, as well as affecting individual sectors of the economy, and not whether it can be permanent, as well as temporary.”

4 . By For Malthus, unlike Ricardo, not only private, but also general crises are possible. But at the same time, both of them are unanimous in the fact that any crises are temporary phenomena, and in this sense, the arguments about their apostasy from the postulates of the “law Say » are excluded.

Thus, the central idea of ​​the Malthusian theory of the influence of the size and rate of population growth on the well-being of society is in principle true and relevant. However, his calculations, which were supposed to confirm with certainty the forecasts arising from it, turned out, fortunately, not always real.

18-19th centuries. His main works were published in 1798 and 1820. Malthus and his "population theory" made a huge contribution to the development of science.

Biography

Malthus was born on February 14, 1766. His father was a very extraordinary person. He was fond of science, maintained friendly relations with Hume and Rousseau. In 1788, Malthus graduated from Jesus College, Cambridge University. According to the custom, as younger son he was to start a spiritual career. After college, Malthus took the dignity. In 1793 he received a theological degree. From 1797 to 1803 Malthus was vicar in one of the parishes of Surrey. However, from his youth he was fascinated by science. Therefore, at the same time, Malthus began to teach. All of it free time occupied the study of problems of interrelation with natural processes. In 1805, he accepted an offer to become a professor in the department of modern history and political economy at the East India Company College. Here he also served as a priest.

Theory of Malthus (briefly)

It became the main work of his life. The first edition appeared in 1798 anonymously. Malthus and his theory of population caused numerous attacks at that time. This was the main reason why, from 1799 to 1802, he began to travel to some countries in Europe. During his trips, he collected information, statistical data. All this information was used by him to correct his work. After this tour in 1803, already under his own name, he publishes a new, supplemented edition of the book. Subsequent writings have also been greatly expanded and updated. The theory of Malthus, in short, became an extensive treatise, including historical digressions, works of other authors.

Compilation specifics

In the very first edition, Malthus' theory of population summarized his theses concerning the demographic state of a number of countries. However, when compiling the essay, the author was not even aware of simple statistical data not only from other states, but also from England itself. For example, he believed that the number of inhabitants of Britain - 7 million people. According to the census conducted in 1801, this number was almost 11 million. In preparing the second edition, he took into account not only the received statistical information, but also church records. In addition, Malthus's theory was supplemented by information on other countries. During his lifetime, 6 editions were published. Each time the theory of Malthus came out with more and more circulation.

The Nature and Growth of Ground Rent

This is another extensive work that Malthus created. It was published in 1815. In this work, the author, based on the natural nature of income from land, tried to reveal the mechanisms of its formation and increase, to substantiate the importance of rent in the implementation of the total product produced by society. But his final judgments were made somewhat later. In 1820, his second major work was published, which reflected the economic theory of Malthus.

The essence of the concept of 1798

Thomas Malthus and his theory have as their primary goal the improvement of human life. In his work, the author uses various categories and concepts. In his work there are not only economic, but also natural-philosophical, sociological, aesthetic, and also religious concepts. In his work, he considered without regard to any in general. The theory of population of T. Malthus was expressed as an eternal, unshakable, natural and inevitable law of nature. The author argued that the number of people is increasing exponentially, and the means of subsistence in arithmetic progression. According to the theory of population of T. Malthus, after two centuries the ratio between the number of people and means would be 256:9, and after three - 4096:13. In 2000 years, the gap between categories would be incalculable and limitless. This theory of T. Malthus will later be called the law of declining fertility of the earth. Doubling the number of inhabitants of the planet, according to the author, will be equivalent to the fact that the size of the Earth will decrease by half. The more people there are, the less cultivated land will be left for each person. In this regard, there is a tendency for the expansion of food resources to lag behind the increase in the number of inhabitants of the planet. Malthus's theory was not substantiated by any real facts. The author proceeded only from assumptions that were not supported by reliable evidence, materials that had any significant practical value.

Contradiction

Malthus's theory, however, contains one fact. But he not only does not substantiate his assumptions, but, on the contrary, speaks of his dishonesty as a scientist. The author mentions in his reflections the doubling of the population of North America in a quarter of a century. He believes that this fact confirms his assumption about the increase in the number of people exponentially. But in reality, as the thinker himself notes, the growth in the number of inhabitants does not occur without hindrance. The author notes that the thesis about doubling does not hold. It is easy to calculate that otherwise in a thousand years the number of people would have increased by 240 times. This means that if in 1001 AD. e. If there were 2 people, then in 2001 there would be 2 x 1012 (or 2 trillion people). This number is approximately 300 times less than the actual value today.

Problems in the concept

1. Moral restraint. The author believed that the duty of every person is that before deciding to marry, he needs to reach a state in which he will be able to provide the means of subsistence for his offspring. At the same time, the tendency to family life must retain its power to maintain energy and awaken in a celibate individual the desire to achieve the desired level of well-being by work.
2. Vices. Malthus attributed to them unnatural ties, licentiousness, desecration of the family bed, various tricks that are taken to hide vicious ties.
3. Misfortune. The author considered them famine, war, plague, epidemics, various excesses, poor nutrition of children, excessive, hard work, harmful activities, and so on.

However, it should be said that the doubling of the population actually took place at a certain stage in the development of society. But it happened as a result of migration, and not due to natural growth.

The poverty of the people

According to Malthus's theory, the main causes of poverty are not problems of social organization in society. The poor have no right to demand anything from the rich. According to the author, the latter are not guilty of the failure of the former. Malthus' theory of poverty is based on the fact that poverty has little or no dependence on the form of government or the uneven distribution of wealth. The rich are unable to provide the poor with food and work. In this regard, the poor, in fact, have no right to demand food or activities. Thus, according to the theory of population of Malthus, the main causes of poverty are inevitable natural laws.

Purpose of the concept

It reveals itself directly in the reasoning of the author. The theory of Malthus is oriented towards paralyzing the class struggle of the workers, proving the futility and groundlessness of the demands that the proletariat makes on the bourgeoisie. The author especially emphasized that the introduction and dissemination of his ideas among the poor would have a beneficial effect on the working masses, which, of course, was beneficial to the ruling class. Malthus made every effort to deprive the struggle of the proletariat of ground. At the same time, he himself cynically and openly opposed the fulfillment of the elementary requirements of justice, the vital rights of workers. The author put forward the assumption that the proletariat itself is guilty of its failure. The proletariat can reduce its poverty only by reducing the birth rate. He considered moral curbing, misfortunes, abstinence from beggarly marriages, exhausting labor, diseases, wars, epidemics, famine as measures to combat the increase in the number of people. In this, he saw the only effective and natural means by which to destroy "superfluous people."

Malthus' theory of "third parties"

Effect

Almost immediately after its publication, Malthus' theory of reproduction became the subject of discussion among public figures, researchers and non-professionals. In addition to the followers of the concept, there were also opponents of the provisions. Some of the critics put forward quite constructive arguments. The work of Malthus was subsequently referred to by specialists from various scientific fields. His work had a key influence on the formation of the concept of Darwin.

Criticism of Marxists

Representatives of the classical school revealed the reactionary role of the theory of population. Marx proved that the essence of the concept is based on the substitution of specific socio-economic laws of capitalism by "immutable and eternal" natural postulates. Marx proved that there is no theory of population at all. Each social formation has its own specific law. Absolute overpopulation is not and cannot be. Population growth is a relative phenomenon. It acts as a specific feature of the capitalist system that arises under the influence of the law of accumulation. It is precisely this, and not natural laws, that determines the poverty of the proletariat. As the main "argument" Malthus used the unscientific law of diminishing fertility. Marxists have sharply criticized this concept. They argued that the author and his supporters did not take into account the increase in productive forces, the progress of technology. Lenin, criticizing the theory, said that there is not a general difficulty in obtaining food, but a problem with food only for a specific class of society - the proletariat. This difficulty is determined by specific capitalist, and not by natural laws.

Mises' opinion

This author emphasized the influence of the concept of Malthus on the theory of liberalism. Mises believed that the proposed assumptions act as the social doctrine of liberalism. As the core of this idea, he called the theory of the division of labor. Only when close relationship with this concept one can correctly interpret the social conditions of Malthusian theory. Society appears as an association of people for the better use of the natural factors of existence. In fact, society is a ban on the mutual extermination of people. In society, instead of fighting, mutual assistance is used. This forms the main motivation for the behavior of its members. Within the framework of society there should be no struggle, there is only peace. Any confrontation, by its very nature, slows down social cooperation. Mises gives his explanation of the conclusions of Malthus. He says that private ownership of the means of production is a regulative principle. It strikes a balance between an increasing number of consumers and a decreasing amount of resources. This principle forms the dependence for each individual on the quota for the economic product, which is reserved from the coefficient of labor and property. It finds its expression in a decrease in the birth rate under the influence of society, the elimination of superfluous members of society, by analogy with the plant or animal world. In the human population, the function of the struggle for existence is realized by a "moral brake limiting offspring."

Concept protection

Mises, among other things, rejects the accusations made against Malthus of cruelty and misanthropy. The author warns readers against wrong conclusions. He says that in society there is not and cannot be a struggle for survival. Mises believes that it is a gross mistake to make such barbaric conclusions on the basis of the theory of Malthus. He argued that statements taken out of context and used for misinterpretation are due to the insufficiency and incompleteness of the first edition of the work. The original edition was compiled before the idea of ​​classical political economy was formed.

Use of the concept

Despite the general scientific inconsistency of the theory of population, it was a great success in bourgeois circles. This was due to the fact that the class demands of this part of society were highly satisfied with ideas. The most sinister role of the concept is noted at the present time. The active dissemination of the ideas of neo-Malthusianism in different interpretations is due to the accelerated increase in population (to a greater extent in developing countries). This trend is accompanied by an aggravation of environmental problems, an increase in the gap in the level of progress between countries.

Roman club

It is an international non-governmental organization. It brings together public, political, scientific figures from many countries of the world. The Club of Rome advanced the thesis that by the middle of the 20th century humanity had reached the limits of exponential growth within a limited space. This idea was presented at the first report in 1972. In 1974, one of the models for solving problems of a global nature, the concept of improving the world system in the plane of limited growth, was substantiated. The latter is understood as the procedure of structural differentiation, which has significant differences from an exclusively quantitative undifferentiated increase. The authors use this concept in relation to the growth of the world system in a similar way to the development of an organism, within which both the specialization of different elements and their functional mutual dependence are noted. The need to apply just such an approach, in the opinion of the participants, is determined by the interdependence of crisis phenomena. These include, in particular, demographic, raw materials, energy, food, natural and other problems.

Conclusion

If, by the turn of the next century, intra-family planning extends to almost all the inhabitants of the planet, and if such a limit exists at the level of 2.2-2.5 children per marriage, then there is reason to believe that by the end of the 21st century, the number of people on Earth stabilizes up to 11-12 billion people. The most important prerequisites for solving the problem of regulating the increase in the human population are deep spiritual and social transformations, an increase in the cultural and material level of the peoples living on the planet. In this case, we are not talking about forced birth control, according to the theory put forward by Malthus. The essence of problem solving lies in the development and implementation of a number of thoughtful measures. Only thanks to this approach, in some states and regions, the increase in the number of inhabitants should accelerate, while in others it should begin to slow down. The need for an objective, conscious limitation of population growth, dictated by the ecological imperative, necessitates an appeal to the neo-Malthusian concept. The relationship of factors in it is two-way. The works of Malthus laid the foundation for the subsequent improvement of the demographic direction in the science of economic development.

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Introduction

Thomas Robert Malthus is a representative of the classical school of European economic science of the 18th-19th centuries. The main works that contain his most remarkable results are the “Experience on the Law of Population ...” published in 1798 and the work of 1820 “The Principles of Political Economy”.

The most important contribution made by T. R. Malthus to economics is his development of the “population theory”, in which an attempt was made to link economic and demographic factors. It should be noted that in the Malthusian formulation of this question, this relationship turns out to be two-sided: just as economic processes affect the change in population, demographic factors also affect the development of the economy. Of course, attempts to establish this kind of dependence were made earlier, but it was the work of Malthus that laid the foundation for the further development of the demographic trend in economics.

1. The main stages of the biography of Malthus T.R.

Thomas Robert Malthus was born on February 14, 1766 near Dorking, Surrey. His father was an outstanding personality: he was engaged in science, was friends and corresponded with the most prominent thinkers of that time, David Hume and Jean-Jacques Rousseau. Thomas entered one of the institutions there - Jesus College, Cambridge University and graduated in 1788. As the youngest son of T. Malthus, according to custom, a spiritual career was intended. Therefore, it is no coincidence that, after graduating from college, he took the clergy. In 1793 he received a theological degree. In 1797-1803 he served as vicar of one of the parishes of the county of Surrey. At the same time, the young Malthus, who always gravitated towards science, from 1793 began to simultaneously teach at the college. At the same time, he devoted all his free time to the study of the problem of the relationship that captured him in his youthful conversations and discussions with his father. economic processes with natural phenomena. In 1805-1834, he accepted an offer to become a professor at the Department of Modern History and Political Economy at the College of the East India Company, where he also served as a priest.

The main work of Thomas Malthus was an essay outlining the theory of population. The first edition of a book entitled An Essay on the Law of Population and How it Works for the Future Improvement of Society, with Remarks on the Ideas of M. Godwin, the Marquis de Condorcet, and Other Authors, appeared anonymously in 1798. The author, an unmarried young pastor - the future scientist and economist T. Malthus, caused innumerable attacks on himself. Largely for this reason, or rather, to improve his work, he during the years 1799-1802. makes a trip to a number of European countries. And five years later, this time under his own name, in 1803 the second supplemented edition of the book saw the light - twice as large in volume. Not only the second, but also subsequent editions were significantly updated and expanded, including historical excursuses, a critical analysis of the works of other authors.

As a result, unlike the form of a short pamphlet in the first edition, in all other editions the book was an extensive treatise. At the first edition of the law, Malthus largely remained unaware of even the simplest facts about the population, not only of other countries, but also of England. So he considered the population of England to be 7 million, and the 1801 census gave a result one and a half times larger, almost 11 million. When preparing the second edition, he took into account not only the materials of the census, but also the current church records, comparable data for other countries were also significantly improved . Thus, the analysis of the information received led Malthus to the need to transfer the core of the argument in the case of England and Europe to preventive restraints. In total, during his lifetime, six editions were published with an increasing circulation over and over again.

Continuing his scientific research in 1815, T. Malthus published another work, “A Study on the Nature and Growth of Land Rent”. In this essay, T. Malthus, based on the natural nature of rent, tried to reveal the mechanism of its formation and growth, to substantiate the significance of this type of income in the sale of the total product produced by society. However, he made his final judgment on rent and some other problems of the economy somewhat later, in 1820. In that year, Malthus published his main creative work, "Principles of Political Economy, Considered with a View to Their Practical Application." Thomas Malthus died on December 23, 1834.

The ideas of Malthus had a powerful positive impact on the development of biology, firstly, through their influence on Darwin, and, secondly, through development based on them. mathematical models population biology, starting with the Verhulst logistic model.

Applied to human society, Malthus's view that population decline leads to an increase in average per capita income led to the formation in the 1920s of the theory of optimal population size, in which per capita income is maximized. However, at present, the theory is of little use in solving real socio-economic problems, but it is good in analytics, as it allows one to judge about under- or overpopulation.

The curbing of population growth was explained by natural obstacles (war, famine, pestilence), high mortality; a preventive factor (abortion, infant mortality), a decrease in the birth rate. The manifestation of "poverty and vice" "Moral restrictions" - an increase in the age of marriage, strict sexual abstinence before marriage. However, Malthus himself, like the rest of the people of the era, considered measures to limit the birth rate to be extremely sinful. (A few decades later, the Malthusians advocated birth control, justified by his theory). But in the first quarter of the 20th century, Malthus's "overpopulation principle" gave way to Keynes's "underpopulation". After the Second World War, Malthus's theory became popular again in developing countries. malthus population malthusianism

The modern followers of Malthus, the neo-Malthusians, say this about modern underdeveloped countries: "The birth rate in them is high, as in agrarian countries, and the death rate is low, as in industrial ones, because of the medical care of more developed countries." They believe that before helping them, it is necessary to solve the problem of birth control.

On the whole, Malthusian theory has demonstrated its high explanatory power in relation to pre-industrial societies, although no one questions the fact that in order to effectively use it to explain the dynamics of modern societies (even in third world countries), it needs the most serious modifications; however, on the other hand, the theory of Malthus demonstrated the highest ability to adapt to such modifications and integrate into them.

The ideas of Malthus were partly used by Karl Haushofer in his work on geopolitics and the theory of "living space".

2. The main provisions of the "population theory" of Malthus

The “population theory” put forward by Malthus is set forth by him in his work “An Experience on the Law of Population ...”, which was first published in 1798 and republished by the author with significant changes in 1803. The primary goal of his research Malthus puts "the improvement of the life of mankind." It should be noted that in presenting his ideas, Malthus widely uses not only economic, but also sociological, natural-philosophical, ethical and even religious concepts and concepts.

Malthus considered the problem of population without regard to any particular mode of production and social development in general. He spoke of the "law of population" as an eternal, unshakable law of nature. In his opinion, both in the world of animals and plants, and in human society, there is an immutable law of nature, which "consists in the constant desire, characteristic of all living beings, to settle down faster than is allowed by the amount of food at their disposal."

In relation to human society, Malthus argued that the population grows exponentially (i.e., as 1, 2, 4, 8, 16, 32, 64, 128, 256), while the means of subsistence, in his opinion, grow in arithmetic progressions (i.e. like 1, 2, 3, 4, 5, 6, 7, 8, 9...). In two centuries, he argued, population would be related to means of subsistence as 256 to 9; after three - as 4096 to 13, and after two thousand years this gap would be boundless and incalculable. This concept will later be called the law of diminishing fertility of the earth. Doubling the number of inhabitants of the Earth, he wrote, is in fact equivalent to the fact that the size of the globe has decreased by half. And the larger the population, the less cultivated land remains per person. Therefore, due to the law of diminishing fertility, there is a tendency for the growth of food resources to lag behind population growth. Malthus did not substantiate his statements in any way, he proceeded from pure assumptions, not confirmed by any factual material.

True, he cites one fact, which, however, not only does not confirm his fabrications, but exposes his dishonesty as a scientist. He talks about doubling the population in North America for 25 years and considers this fact proof that the population is growing exponentially. However, in reality, as Malthus notes, population growth is not unhindered. He himself notes that the thesis about doubling does not hold. It is easy to calculate that otherwise in 1000 years the population would have increased by 240 times. That is, if in 1001 AD two people lived on Earth, then in 2001 - already more than 2x1012, or two trillion people, which is about three hundred times higher than the actual today's value.

Such reproduction, according to Malthus, is possible only under certain specific conditions, and in real life a person faces various “obstacles”, which can be classified as follows:

1. Moral restraint: “The duty of every man is to decide on married life only when he can provide his offspring with the means of subsistence; but at the same time it is necessary that the propensity for married life retain all its strength so that it can maintain energy and awaken in a celibate person the desire to achieve through work necessary degree welfare."

2. vices: "Debauchery, unnatural liaisons, desecration of the marital bed, subterfuges taken to conceal the consequences of a criminal and unnatural liaison."

3. misfortune: "Unhealthy occupations, heavy, excessive or weathered labor, extreme poverty, malnourishment of children, unhealthy living conditions in large cities, every kind of excess, disease, epidemic, war, plague, famine."

In fact, this doubling of the population took place only at a certain historical stage of development and it happened due to immigration, and not natural population growth.

The main conclusion that Malthus made from his "Experience on the Law of Population" was that poverty, poverty of the working masses is the result of the inevitable laws of nature, and not the social organization of society. The poor, the poor, have no right to demand anything from the rich, since the latter are not to blame for their disasters (“The main and continuous cause of poverty,” wrote Malthus, “little or does not depend at all on the form of government, or on the uneven distribution of property; the rich are not in power to provide the poor with work and food; - therefore, the poor, in the very essence of things, have no right to demand work and food from them: these are the important truths that follow from the law of population).

Thus, Malthus himself very clearly revealed the purpose of his theory of population - it is aimed at paralyzing the class struggle of the proletariat, "proving" the groundlessness and futility of its demands made on the bourgeoisie. No wonder Malthus emphasized that the dissemination of his ideas "among the poor" would have a "beneficial" effect on the masses, of course, beneficial to the ruling classes.

Making every effort to deprive the struggle of the working class of ground, Malthus himself openly and cynically spoke out against the vital rights of the working people, against the elementary demands of human justice. He put forward the position that the working class is to blame for its poverty and that it can reduce its poverty only by limiting the birth rate. As measures to combat population growth, Malthus proposed "moral restraint" - the abstinence of the poor from marriages. In diseases, exhausting labor, famine, epidemics, wars, which constitute a true misfortune for the working people, he saw natural means of destroying the "extra" population.

3. Classical Malthusianism and Neo-Malthusianism

The concept of Malthus has undergone a certain evolution over time. Therefore, it is customary to distinguish between classical Malthusianism and its later modifications, which, in turn, exist in the form of Malthusianism, which continues the classical line, and neo-Malthusianism. The central political thesis of classical Malthusianism is the statement about the “futility” of efforts to increase people's livelihood, since this, according to Malthus, ultimately only increases the number of consumers.

In the twentieth century, due to the discovered failure of the “arithmetic progression” of Malthus (the volume of food produced increased much faster than the population growth rate) W. Thompson (USA), G. Razho (France), E. East (USA), K. Wit-Knudsen (Denmark) and some others, trying to defend the main ideas of classical Malthusianism, tried to show that the theory of Malthus is not limited to “progressions”, that the main thesis of Malthusianism is precisely the “natural” nature of demographic development.

Representatives of classical Malthusianism of the second half of the twentieth century W. Vogt (USA) in the book “People! I call for salvation” (1960) and G. Butul (France) in the book “Overpopulation” (1964) and “Delayed infanticide” (1970) see the only way for people to get out of the general civilizational “population crisis” in the earliest possible measures to reduce the birth rate, and also make a call against the industrialization and social transformation of agriculture in developing countries. G.Taylor (USA), making the subject of consideration "natural" obstacles to population growth, comes to the conclusion that among these factors are by no means "traditional" means - wars, famine, epidemics. Today, the focus has shifted towards rapid destruction environment due to the enormously increased anthropogenic pressure on it. We are talking about a “feedback mechanism” in force and with the help of which nature, as it were, settles accounts with humanity for its excessive reproduction.

An updated version of the theory of Malthus is neo-Malthusianism. In the ordinary view, his ideas are transformed into the rejection of children in marriage. This ideological trend originated at the end of the nineteenth century in the form of the so-called neo-Malthusian societies, leagues, unions, etc. If classical Malthusianism completely ignores and denies the impact of social factors on the population, then neo-Malthusianism recognizes this impact, but equates it to the impact of biological factors. For example, the American demographer J. Spengler attempted to “reconcile” the biological and the social in Malthusianism. In his theory, Malthus is presented as a champion of increasing employment and even as a revolutionary. Moreover, the “revolutionary grain” of the Malthusian theory is seen by Spengler in the thesis of “sexual attraction”, the negative consequences of which allegedly mobilize people to close the gap between the rate of population growth and the increase in food supply.

Neo-Malthusianism is not limited to pure theory; in its practical recommendations, this trend primarily highlights the biological sphere of the reproduction of the human race and relegates to the background as insignificant measures to transform, increase the efficiency of the economy, and raise the standard of living of the population. Thus, neo-Malthusianism ignores the social side of the process of human reproduction. Leading modern US demographers evaluate the impact on the biological mechanism of fertility as the “main element” of strategic programs in relation to the world population, in fact, ignoring the necessary social and economic transformations.

4. The role of Malthusian theory in the formation of modern scientificconcepts

It should be noted that the solution proposed by Malthus to the problem of imbalance between consumption and the possibilities of food production through birth control is ineffective. The fact is that the population is growing not only due to natural increase, but also due to an increase in average life expectancy and other factors. Birth control, coupled with an increase in life expectancy, leads to the aging of society, a decrease in the share of the economically active population. And then the problems of providing pensions for a large number of elderly citizens arise here, which have to be solved at the expense of the rest of society.

Apparently, the solution of the problems raised by Malthus is significantly beyond the scope of economic theory. Malthus's theory provided big influence on the development of some scientific concepts - starting from the theory of evolution and natural selection Charles Darwin and ending with the concept of sustainable development.

The theory of Malthus also played a significant role in the formation of the concept of the “golden billion” - it is in this value that the optimal number of people inhabiting the earth is estimated. And for the very raising of the question of what to do with the remaining five billion, opponents of this concept accuse Malthus of misanthropy. Meanwhile, the problem is obvious: the needs of mankind for food resources can very soon exceed the ability of the Earth's biomass to meet them. As N.N. Moiseev, the introduction of self-restraints, primarily on production and consumption, is becoming inevitable for mankind. In modern economic, sociological and philosophical problems, the questions of the evolution of man as the dominant biological species on a planetary scale are becoming increasingly important. This is primarily due to the awareness of the clearly manifested contradictions between the capabilities of the environment and those anthropogenic tendencies that, being inherent in the very nature of man or acquired by him in the process of centuries of development, begin to have a global character, significantly exceeding the limit of stability of the regulatory mechanisms of the biosphere.

This range of problems was introduced into wide scientific consideration by V.I. Vernadsky, Le Roy and Teilhard de Chardin. These scientists have proposed various ways to solve these problems. They are connected with the need for changes in the worldview and value orientations of humanity, in its actual understanding of its responsibility for the state of the planet and awareness of its progressive influence on it. T.R. Malthus.

5 . CriticismMalthusianism in terms of other teachings

In fact, immediately after the publication of the main provisions of the theory of Malthus became the subject of discussion among researchers, public figures and even among non-professional audiences. In addition to the followers of the theory, its critics were also found, some of which were very constructive. Subsequently, specialists from various fields of science referred to the works of Malthus - from socialist economists to biologists studying the trophic chains of biocenoses. The works of Malthus had a decisive influence on the development of Darwin's theory.

The classics of Marxism gave a devastating critique of the Malthusian "law" of population and revealed its reactionary role. Marx showed that the main content of this "law" is based on the substitution of the specific socio-economic laws of capitalism for non-existent "eternal" and "immutable" laws of nature.

In contrast to Malthus, Marx proved that there is no law of population in general, that each social formation has its own specific law of population. No, and there cannot be absolute overpopulation, there is relative overpopulation as a specific feature of capitalism, generated by the operation of the general law of capitalist accumulation. It is the operation of this law, and not the laws of nature, that determines the unemployment and poverty of the working class. Marx and Lenin showed the inconsistency of applying the laws of nature to society.

Malthus' main "argument" that the growth of the means of subsistence lags sharply behind the growth of population was the unscientific "law" of diminishing soil fertility.

The classics of Marxism gave a sharp criticism of this "law", showing that its adherents leave aside the most important thing, they ignore the growth of the productive forces of society, the growth of production technology. Criticizing the "law" of decreasing soil fertility, V. I. Lenin proved that there is not a general difficulty in obtaining food, but a difficulty in obtaining food for only one part of the population - for the working class, and it is entirely determined by the specific laws of capitalism, and not by the eternal laws of nature .

Marx characterized Malthus' work "An Essay on the Law of Population" as a whole as "student-superficial plagiarism ..".

Ludwig von Mises attached considerable importance to the theory of Malthus and its influence on the “social theory of liberalism”. According to Mises, Malthus' theory of population is nothing more than part of the social doctrine of liberalism, "although critics constantly show a lack of understanding of this fact." "Core social theory liberalism is the theory of the division of labor. Only in close connection with it can the social conditions of the law of population of Malthus be correctly explained. Society arises as an association of people for the better use of the natural conditions of existence. In essence, society is a ban on the mutual extermination of people, the struggle is replaced by mutual assistance, this forms the main motivation for the behavior of all members of a single organism. Within the boundaries of society there should be no struggle, only peace. Any struggle, in fact, hinders social cooperation. A cohesive society-organism can eliminate the struggle for existence against hostile forces. However, from the inside, when a society consists of interacting individuals, it cannot be anything other than cooperation,” notes Ludwig von Mises.

Mises goes on to give his own interpretation of Malthus's results: “Private ownership of the means of production is a regulative principle that ensures a balance between the limited number of means at the disposal of society and the more rapidly growing number of consumers. This principle makes each individual dependent on a quota of economic product, socially reserved from the coefficient of ownership and labor. It is expressed in a decrease in the birth rate under the pressure of social pressure, the elimination of superfluous members of society, as happens in the animal and plant kingdoms. However, the function of the struggle for existence is performed by the “moral brake” that limits the offspring.”

L. von Mises also rejects the accusations of misanthropy and cruelty against Malthus's theory, warning readers against incorrect conclusions: “There is not, and cannot be, a struggle for survival in society. It would be a gross mistake to draw such barbaric conclusions from the social theory of liberalism. Taken out of context, the expressions of Malthus used for misinterpretations are explained by the simple insufficiency and incompleteness of the first edition, written before the spirit of classical political economy was fully formed. It should be emphasized that before Darwin and Spencer, no one could consider the struggle for existence in the modern sense of the word as a principle of behavior operating in human society.

Despite the scientific inconsistency of the Malthusian "law" of population, it was a resounding success among the bourgeoisie and its ideologists, since it satisfied their class demands to the highest degree. This "law" plays the most sinister role at the present time.

Conclusion

AT recent times the active dissemination of various neo-Malthusian concepts, such as the population optimum theory of G. Brown, J. Bonner, the statements of G. Taylor and P. Ehrlich about population growth as the only cause of the ecological crisis, etc., is associated with the accelerated growth of the world's population ( predominantly in developing countries), exacerbation environmental problem, the widening gap in levels of development between developed industrial countries and developing countries.

Within the framework of an international non-governmental organization that unites scientists, political and public figures from many countries of the world - the Club of Rome - the thesis is substantiated that by the middle of the twentieth century humanity has reached the limits of exponential growth in a limited space (the first report to the Club of Rome under the leadership of D. . Meadows in 1972). In the second report to the Club of Rome by M. Mesarovic and E. Pestel Humanity at the Turning Point (1974), one of the models for solving global problems, the concept of the development of the world system in coordinates of limited growth, is substantiated. Limited growth is understood as a process of structural differentiation that differs significantly from purely quantitative undifferentiated growth. The authors apply this concept to the growth of the world system by analogy with the growth (more precisely, development) of an organism, in which it is observed as a specialization various parts organic system, and the functional interdependence between them. The need for just such an approach is determined, in their opinion, by the interdependence of crisis situations: the crisis of overpopulation, the environment, food, energy, raw materials, etc.

If by the beginning of the next century intra-family planning will cover almost the entire population of the Earth, and if this restriction will occur at the level of 2.2-2.5 children per married couple, then there is reason to believe that at the end of the twenty-first century there will be a stabilization of the population for level of 11-12 billion people. The most important prerequisite for solving the problem of regulating population growth is profound social and spiritual transformations, the rise in the material and cultural level of peoples. At the same time, this is not about forced Malthusian birth control, but about a whole series of well-thought-out measures, due to which population growth should accelerate in some regions and countries, and slow down somewhat in others. The objective need for conscious regulation of population growth, dictated by the ecological imperative, leads to an appeal to neo-Malthusian ideas.

List of used literature

1. Boldyrev V.A. The economic law of the population under socialism. - M. - 2009.

2. Rubin Ya.I. Population theory (Malthusian and anti-Malthusian directions). - M., 2013.

3. Kostyuk V.N. History of Economic Thought. P. 15 -25, M. -Tsentr.-2011.

4. Fundamentals of the theory of population. M. - 2013.

5. The system of knowledge about the population. M. - 2009.

6. Malthus T.R. An experiment on the law of population. ? Petrozavodsk, 2007.

7. Mises L. Individual, market and legal state. - St. Petersburg: Pnevma, 2012.

8. Great Soviet Encyclopedia. ? M., 2011.

9. Agadzhanyan I.A. Previously unknown signals of the dying. ? Yerevan: Nairi, 2007.

10. Yadgarov Ya.S. History of Economic Thought. Textbook for high schools. 3rd edition. - M.: INFRA-M, 2000.

11. Moiseev N.N. Modern anthropogenesis and civilizational faults. Ecological and political analysis. // Questions of Philosophy. - 2005. ? No. 1.

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An outstanding representative of classical political economy in England was Thomas Malthus (1766-1834). He was born into a noble family, but as the youngest son he could not count on an inheritance, and therefore a spiritual career was prepared for him. After graduating from college at the University of Cambridge, he worked as a village priest, and from 1793, after receiving a theological degree, at the same time as a teacher in this college. There he developed an interest in philosophy and political economy.

The work of this outstanding researcher dates back to the first quarter of the 19th century, but the results of his scientific research are also valuable for modern economics.

First job Malthus - "Experience on the law of population in connection with the future improvement of society" (1798), where he outlined some of his views on the patterns and interdependence of economic and demographic processes - was published by him anonymously. It caused a stormy, mostly negative reaction, was attacked by many scientists, politicians, and public figures. In particular, a contemporary of Malthus, the writer Thomas Carlyle. after reading it, he called economics "a gloomy science." In order to improve his work, Malthus made a trip to the countries of Europe in 1799-1802, and some time later (in 1803) prepared a second, revised edition of his book, this time under his own name. During his life, several more editions of this sling were made, which turned from a small pamphlet into a considerable treatise, and turned its author into an odious personality.

In addition to "Experience", which made its author famous and even famous, T. Malthus wrote several more significant works, among which it is necessary to highlight "Research on nature and the growth of land rent" (1815), "Theoretical foundations of the policy of restricting the import of foreign grain" (1815), "The concept of political economy" (1827). However main job steel scientist "Principles of Political Economy Considered in the Plan of Their Application" (1820). Contemporaries considered Malthus an outstanding economist for his research on many of the fundamental problems of economic theory. However, he entered the history of economic thought primarily as the author of the theory of population.

The work "Experience on the Law of Population in Connection with the Future Improvement of Society" was devoted to criticism of the utopian theories of the socialist Godwin and one of the ideologists of the French bourgeois revolution, Condorcet, which proved the possibility of building a society of ideal evenness, subject to state intervention in the sphere of distribution of social income.

Malthus considers social development in the interaction and interdependence of economic and natural factors. He also refers to natural factors the population, whose influence on the stability of social development is considered in his work. The theory of population refuted the idea of ​​the possibility of improving society with the help of social legislation and regulatory intervention of the state, and also created the prerequisites for the development of a number of economic and social doctrines. The founders of classical economic theory (Petty, Smith) saw the growth of the working-age population as a prerequisite for the wealth of the country. Malthus does not deny that a large population is one of the conditions for wealth, but at the same time he sees the other side of population growth.

He proceeded from the following basic provisions:

1) society is in equilibrium when it produces enough food for the consumption of the corresponding population;

2) in the event of a violation of this balance, forces arise in society that return it to an equilibrium state;

3) the prices of all goods are determined by the ratio of supply and demand;

4) there is a law of population, according to which both the population and food in the absence of obstacles grow indefinitely, but the population growth rate is higher than the growth rate of food products.

In particular, under favorable circumstances, the population will grow exponentially (1, 2,4,8,16, 32.64, etc.), and food production - in arithmetic (1,2,3,4, 5, 6, 7,8, etc.). It follows from this that if the population doubles every 20-25 years, then food production over the same period increases by only 20-25%. As a result, in two centuries the population will be related to the means of subsistence as 256 to 9, in three centuries - as 4096 to S.

It was in overpopulation that the English pastor saw the main reason for the growth of depravity, disease, poverty, hunger and unemployment and other ills of society. "Because of overpopulation," Malthus wrote, "poverty can become the miserable and bitter fate of all mankind." Therefore, this book is an analysis of how to achieve the desired balance between population and sufficient food production.

Malthus agreed with Smith that the growth of wealth could occur indefinitely, but stressed that the brake on this process could be a faster population growth. He did not object to population growth, but proposed "to establish a relation between the population and food that would not cause a struggle between them." That is, he proves that population growth is self-regulated primarily by limited means of subsistence. As soon as the number of these funds increases, the population also increases, if this increase is not prevented by extraordinary circumstances. He considers unusual moral barriers, vices and misfortunes, which do not have an objective economic nature, but which, in turn, may be the result of excessive population growth. It is about achieving a state of economic equilibrium of society.

It was the methods and means of achieving economic equilibrium that determined the essence of his law of population. It was based on two components:

The biological ability of a person to procreate, which he considered a natural instinct;

Action law of diminishing returns earth.

Malthus noted that the natural passion for rapid reproduction ran into the operation of the law of diminishing fertility of the earth and, as a result, to the limited resources for the production of consumer goods. This explains the poverty and suffering of the people. Therefore, in order to maintain balance, it is necessary that reproduction is constantly delayed. In primitive societies, this was achieved through disease, famine, and wars, and in a market society, through wage regulation and "moral restraint" on the birth rate. Wage regulation is automatic in the sense that excessive population growth lowers wages and thus limits population growth in the next generation. On the contrary, an increase in wages leads to an increase in the population and thus to an increase in the poverty of the next generation. In particular, a rich harvest will entail the following famine: "abundance, encouraging marriages, creates a surplus in the population, whose needs can no longer be satisfied with the harvest of an ordinary year."

Malthus believed that a person who is not able to feed his family should postpone his marriage, and if such a readiness never comes, abandon it altogether. He often said that trying to alleviate poverty through government subsidies or private philanthropy can only prevent everyone from taking care of themselves. None of the able-bodied masses "has the right to food if he cannot support himself by his own labor." At the same time, a poor person cannot encroach on the property of the rich, because private property is necessary for the growth of the production of consumer goods and thus for the improvement of the situation of the poor.

The British scientist condemned the division of society into very rich and very poor, but he understood that social equality of people is also impossible. Therefore, the basis of population growth without poverty considered the growth of production and the "middle class", which should become the basis of society. "It is not the excessive luxuries of a small number of people, but the moderate luxuries of all classes of society," Malthus emphasized, "that constitute the wealth and well-being of the people." At the same time, according to Malthus, there should be moderate social inequality in society. “If we take away from a person the hope for an increase and the danger of a decline, then there would be no zeal and zeal that make each person improve his position and which are the main engine of social welfare,” the scientist reasonably noted.

Summing up, we note that the ideas of Malthus are in principle fair and relevant. The British's scientific prediction was subsequently confirmed, although, fortunately, his gloomy predictions did not come true. This is due to Malthus's disregard for scientific and technological progress, which turned out to be able to significantly increase labor productivity, in particular in agriculture.

This system of views on population is called in economics. Malthusianism. Modern supporters of the theory of population of Malthus are called neo-Malthusians.

Population theory gave rise to justified accusations of pessimism, but for Malthus it became the basis for a thorough study of various interrelated economic problems.

Important in the economic system of T. Malthus was the theory of wages, which followed from his law of population. He fixed the salary the minimum value of the means of existence worker. But the scientist noted that this minimum in different countries is significantly different. In England, the basis of the food of workers is wheat, and in Ireland - potatoes, - Malthus gives an example. - Since the market price of wheat is higher than the market price of potatoes, the wages of an English worker are higher than an Irish worker, resulting in "Irish shacks and rags."

Malthus especially distinguishes not nominal, but real wages, which he determined the price of food. Therefore, he believed that poverty could not be overcome with monetary assistance, since the shortage of a certain product would lead to an increased price for it. When there is a lack of food in relation to the population, it makes absolutely no difference what kind of financial assistance the lower classes receive - "two shillings or five."

Malthus Opposed the law on helping the poor, as it leads to equalization of income: "Equality does not create a sufficiently strong motive for work and does not contribute to the victory over natural laziness ... Poverty is inevitable, to which any system of equality must lead very quickly ... - the Englishman asserted, not without reason. It follows that only a minimum level of wages will provide the optimal proportion between population growth and increased production of commodities. This is the point wage law T. Malthus, Therefore, wages in society cannot grow, always remaining at a low level.

The most fruitful in the theoretical heritage of the English pastor was theory of production costs. From the dualistic interpretation of Smith's value, Malthus rejects the thesis of the great Scot that value is created only by labor, and adheres to another theses of his teacher - the value of a commodity is determined by its cost of production. It is on this statement that the theory of production costs of Malthus is built, which was subsequently positively perceived by most Western economists. Among its supporters was an outstanding British economist of the 20th century. J. M. Keynes.

Quite contradictory, based on the theory of production costs, was the interpretation by Malthus arrived, which he defined as the excess of value over production losses, which does not arise in production, as Smith and Ricardo argued, but in circulation, when goods are sold at prices exceeding production costs. Such a peculiar and highly dubious approach led Malthus to formulate his own implementation theory. after all, it was necessary to explain the problem of the full realization of the produced product, which is not possible with such an interpretation of profit.

The scientist argued what wage workers, due to low wages, are not able to purchase all the goods produced, so other groups of the population must be involved in their sale. A large number of products are consumed by the capitalists themselves, but the extent of unproductive consumption is limited by the capitalist's striving for accumulation and expansion of production. The problem of selling excess, according to Malthus, is solved by the growth of unproductive consumption of the so-called "third parties", to which he includes consumers who are not involved in the production of goods, but receive income, for example, landowners and their servants, merchants, officers, priests, and the like. . The most unproductive consumption by non-violating classes in society, in his opinion, is the basis for ensuring demand and stability of economic development.

Only under this condition will the entire product, in which the profit is embodied, be redeemed. This dubious and poorly substantiated thesis unexpectedly led Malthus to a brilliant statement, appreciated much later by Keynes. He argued, again denying Smith, that there is another limit to the growth of capital (the first feature, we recall, was considered overpopulation of the country) - insufficient demand for goods. “To capitalize income when there is not sufficient demand for products,” Malthus wrote, “is just as absurd as it is absurd to encourage marriages and reproduction of the population, when there is no demand for labor and a fund to feed the new population.”

With this statement, Malthus questioned the seemingly indisputable thesis of his predecessors and contemporaries, the creators of classical political economy, that the source of wealth growth is thrift, and production must always exceed consumption. Generally agreeing with these conclusions, he noted that excessive frugality undermines incentives for production: “If everyone were content with simple food, the most modest clothing and housing, then obviously there would be no other types of food, clothing and housing .. .".

In modern economic literature, Malthus is called a scientist who, centuries before Keynes, discovered the law of effective demand, based on the definition of limited resources in society. “If Malthus, and not Ricardo, had been the founder of the political economy of the 19th century,” Keynes himself wrote, “how much wiser and richer the world would be today.”

Malthus' contribution to the formation of law of diminishing returns of resources, which belongs to the triad of fundamental economic laws, which also include the law of supply and demand and the law of diminishing utility. Its essence lies in the fact that each additional increase in one of the production resources - capital, labor or land - with a constant number of others, from a certain moment leads to a decrease in the increase in the product produced.

He vividly illustrated the operation of this law by analyzing the fertility of soils, in particular in his work "Research on Nature and the Growth of Rent." This analysis gave grounds to formulate law of decline in soil fertility. Its essence lies in the fact that the basis for the production of consumer products is the availability of land resources, land fertility and labor productivity in agriculture. Since there is a limited number of land plots with a sufficient level of soil fertility, under the pressure of a growing population, lands with low level returns. Expenditures of capital on the cultivation of such lands to less productive ones, and subsequent additional expenditures of capital lead to a decrease in their return, that is, there is a relative decrease in their productivity. Consequently, labor productivity in agriculture has not only a physical, as a consequence of the potential inherent in the land, but also an economic border, which leads to an increase in prices for agricultural products.

As a result, there is a difference in incomes on lands of unequal fertility, which became the basis of land rent. Malthus pays special attention to the analysis differential rent, which, according to the scientist, arises in connection with the transition to the cultivation of the worst lands, which is a consequence of population growth. Exploring the nature of rent, the scientist understands that it also arises as a result of economic activity, that is, additional capital investments in order to artificially improve the quality of soils (we are talking about differential rent ). However, the efficiency of the use of capital in agriculture also has its limit, since, according to the law of diminishing returns of resources, any subsequent investment of capital gives a lower return than the previous one, and the increase in soil fertility relative to the increase in investment decreases.

The law of diminishing returns shows that the increasing return of resources, that is, an increase in their useful effect, is possible only under the condition of their qualitative improvement and an increase in the efficiency of their use. However, this conclusion was made by the followers of Malthus much later.