Books

A series of tracts on political economy written by Malthus to establish his own position against that of his friend and intellectual rival David Ricardo, with whom Malthus had been engaged in an ongoing debate about the nature of labour, demand and profit. In particular, in his Principles of Political Economy, 'Malthus was proposing investment in public work and private luxury as a means of increasing effective demand, and hence as a palliative to economic distress. The nation, he thought, must balance the power to produce and the will to consume' (DSB). 'The Principles had only a limited impact at the time, and was severely criticised by J. R. McCulloch and Ricardo; the latter prepared extensive critical notes. But more recently it has received greater recognition, largely as a result of the comments by J. M. Keynes in the 1930s. Keynes argued that Malthus's theory of effective demand provided a scientific explanation of unemployment, and that the hundred-year domination of Ricardo over Malthus had been a disaster for the progress of economics. Keynes believed that if economics had followed Malthus instead of being constrained by Ricardo in an artificial groove, the world would be a much wiser and richer place' (ODNB). Goldsmiths' 22767; Kress C.577.

This work by Thomas Robert Malthus discusses the economic theories related to production and distribution of wealth, providing a critique of contemporary economic theories.