The Original Doomer, Thomas Malthus on This Day in History

 

Malthus and the Assault on Population 

This Day in History: Economist Thomas Malthus was born on this day in 1766. He is famous for his book An Essay on the Principle of Population where he argued that human population growth would outpace food production, which would lead to societal ruin. However, Malthus was wrong. He failed to anticipate the Industrial Revolution that came after his book and people were able to produce more despite rising populations. Yet, people still cling to this Malthusian way of thinking. Paul Ehrlich in 1968 published The Population Bomb which sold millions of copies. In it he warned: “The battle to feed all of humanity is over. In the 1970s the world will undergo famines — hundreds of millions of people are going to starve to death in spite of any crash programs embarked upon now. At this late date nothing can prevent a substantial increase in the world death rate. . . .”

"The predicted famines did not occur in the 1970s or the 1980s. What did occur was a surplus of food. The apocalyptic critics in 1965 should have paid more attention to the statistics of food production. After 1950, worldwide grain production increased steadily. From 1950 through 1975, this increase was in the range of 25% to 40% per capita. In the less developed countries (excluding Communist China), the increase was in the 13% range. Between 1950 and 1980, the world’s supply of arable land grew by more than 20%, and it grew even faster in the less developed countries. From 1967 to 1977, the world’s irrigated acreage grew by more than 25%. The price of seed, fertilizer, pesticides, and farm equipment also dropped in this period, in some cases by as much as half. In the 1980’s, grain farmers all over the world suffered economic losses as a result of overproduction. While these trends may not be permanent, they did create a tremendous public relations problem for the heralded famine-predictors of the counter-culture era (1965-70)."~Gary North=

Where there was famine, it was largely due to government interference. "Zimbabwe was agriculturally rich but, with government interference, was reduced to the brink of mass starvation. Any country faced with massive government interference can be brought to starvation. Blaming poverty on overpopulation not only lets governments off the hook but also encourages the enactment of harmful, inhumane policies."~Walter Williams