Economics Essay: Historical Analysis of the Malthusian Trap

This essay examines the historical experience of countries that have and have not escaped the Malthusian trap, drawing upon economic theory and data. It begins by outlining Malthus's theory of population growth and resource constraints, highlighting the demographic transition observed over the past 200 years, including declining population growth rates and negative growth in some regions. The essay discusses the key assumptions underlying the Malthusian trap, such as the positive correlation between population and per capita income, the inverse relationship between population and income per capita under diminishing returns to labor, and the limitations of technological advancements in overcoming population growth. It references historical events like the Black Death to illustrate the dynamics of population, wages, and living standards. Furthermore, the essay touches upon the role of environmental degradation and hygiene conditions in influencing death and fertility rates. Finally, the essay contrasts marriage patterns in Northwestern Europe with those in Eastern and Southern Europe, suggesting a link between marriage age, family structure, and economic growth, while citing various sources to support its analysis. Desklib provides students access to similar essays and study resources.

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ECONOMICS

Economics
The historical experience of countries that have and have not
escaped from the Malthusian trap.
It was assumed by Malthus that the population is expected to grow at an exponential rate till
there occurs a crisis of resources. Earlier people used to have a longer, healthier and wealthier
life than now, but it has been observed that over the past 200 years there has been a
demographic transition. In this period, people also decided that they will try to control the
population by controlling the birth rate. In the 1960s, the population growth rate of the world
was about 2.1%. Currently, the population growth has declined to 1.2% and is expected to
fall further. It is predicted by the demographers that the population of earth will continue to
grow but at a falling rate. It has also been observed that there is a negative population growth
rate in some countries like Japan and Europe.
The four important assumptions on which the idea of the Malthusian trap is dependent are
explained. Firstly, it is assumed that there lies a positive correlation between the population
and the per capita income of the company. If the wages per capita is seen to fall then we can
say that the fertility has declined (Malthus named it as a preventive check) and improved
death rates (known as positive checks). The second assumption being that there is an opposite
relation between the population and the income per capita if the return to the labor is
demising (Joel & Hans-Joachim, 2009).
(Joel & Hans-Joachim, 2009)
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Economics
In the 14th century, the population of Europe fell drastically by one third to one fifth just
before the plague. This period was known as the Black Death. During this time the wages of
the workers arose because there were very few numbers of workers available for the given
resources, technology, and capital. This Black Death resulted in higher and improved
standard of living. Such level of standard of living was not observed again until the 19th
century. As there was an improvement in the wages of the people, the population again
started rising. Gradually, it was found that the standard of living of the people fell down
again. This has been named as “Iron Law of wages” in Marxist economics. There are various
factors that have led to increasing the death rate and the fertility rate; they are the
environmental degradation and also the poor quality of hygiene conditions (Grruber, 2016).
The other significant Malthusian model is that the technological advancements made will not
be sufficient for overcoming the population growth (Koot, 2013). The last assumption of the
model is that it is not possible to reduce the population growth without controlling the birth
rate.
Few pieces of evidence from Holland and certain areas of North-western Europe gave a
suggestion that the financial sound families made an investment in the human capital. It has
also been suggested by various another historian that this investment was made continuously
over certain years which helped in the creation of modest economic growth which helped in
making the foundation of the modern period and it also led to the industrial revolution. There
was a difference in the marriage pattern of North-western Europe and Eastern and Southern
Europe. In North-eastern Europe, people used to marry at a later age and used to live in a
nuclear family immediately after marriage. Whereas in the Easton and southern Europe it was
found that people used to marry at a much younger age and proffered to live in an extended
family. In a book written by Jan De Vries, he has stated that the marriages in Northeast
Europe have resulted in Industrial Revolution among the workers. It has been said by
another writer that there has been a significant economic growth in the medieval period due
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Economics
to the marriage pattern that has been followed there.
(Robin & Kristen, 2009)
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Economics
References
Joel,M., and Hans-Joachim, V. ( 2009) Understanding Growth in Early Modern Europe. In Cambridge
Economic History of Europe. [online]. 1, pp. 24-34. Available
from https://doi.org/10.1017/CBO9780511794834 [7 April 2018]
Koot, G.M. (2013) Escaping from the Malthusian Population Trap in Northwestern Europe. History
Department, University of Massachusetts Dartmouth
Grruber, J. (2016) Public Finance and Public Policy. New York: Worth Publishers
Mankiw, N.G. and Taylor, M.P. (2011) Economics (2nd ed). Andover: Cengage Learning
Robin, H. and Kristen A.S. (2009). Misinterpreting the Coase Theorem. Journal of
Economic Issues [online]. 43 (1), pp. 215–238. Available from doi:10.2753/JEI0021-
3624430110 [7 April 2018]
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