Thomas MalthusThomas Robert Malthus FRS was a prominent economist in the fields of political economy and demography who lived in England from February 1766 to December 29, 1834. Malthus noted in his 1798 book An Essay on the Principle of Population that an increas in a country's food production improved the welfare of the populace, but the improvement was only fleeting because it caused population growth, which in turn led to a return to the original per capita production level. This theory, known as the "Malthusian trap" or the "Malthusian specter," holds that people had a tendency to use abundance for population growth rather than for preserving a high level of living. According to a gloomy theory commonly referred to as a Malthusian catastrophe, populations had a tendency to increase until the lower class experienced hardship, poverty, and increased susceptibility to war, starvation, and disease. Malthus argued against the widely held belief in 18th-century Europe that society was improving and, in theory, perfectible. The capacity of the population is indefinitely greater than the power on the earth to generate food for man, according to Malthus, who saw population rise as inevitable anytime conditions improved. Read More Read Less