thomas malthus
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Definition
- Proper noun:
- An English economist and demographer: Thomas Malthus was a scholar known for his theories on population growth and its relationship to resources. He is most famous for proposing that human population tends to increase geometrically while food production increases only arithmetically, leading to inevitable checks on population such as famine, disease, or war.
Usage Examples
- Proper noun:
- The theories of Thomas Malthus were influential in the development of economics and biology.
- Thomas Malthus published his seminal work, "An Essay on the Principle of Population," in 1798.
Advanced Usage
- "Malthusian" (adjective): Relating to the theories of Thomas Malthus.
- The economist presented a Malthusian argument about resource scarcity.
- "Malthusianism" (noun): The set of ideas or theories proposed by Thomas Malthus.
- Debates about overpopulation often reference Malthusianism.
Variants and Related Words
- Malthusian (adj): Pertaining to the ideas of Thomas Malthus.
- Malthusianism (n): The economic and demographic theory associated with Thomas Malthus.
Synonyms
- Demographer: A specialist in the study of population statistics and trends.
- Political economist: A scholar who studies the interaction between politics and economics.
Related Phrases
- Malthusian catastrophe: A hypothetical event where population growth outpaces agricultural production, leading to societal collapse.
- Some environmentalists warn of a potential Malthusian catastrophe.
- Malthusian trap: The theory that advances in food production inevitably lead to population growth, which then prevents sustained increases in the standard of living.
- Historians debate whether pre-industrial societies were caught in a Malthusian trap.
Noun
- an English economist who argued that increases in population would outgrow increases in the means of subsistence (1766-1834)