The Gloomy Presentiments of Parson Malthus and David Ricardo Summary and Analysis

Eighteenth century England felt that its population was decreasing. There was not any census information at this time since the first census was not until 1801. They thought the population to be somewhere around five and one half million people and it was not expected to double for approximately six hundred years. Another researcher, Dr. Richard Price felt that the population had declined by 30% and this led to the introduction of a poor-relief bill which encouraged people to have children by giving them allowances.

Reverend Thomas Robert Malthus was not favorably inclined towards the state of the population. Malthus was having an argument with his father about the size of the population and its affect on economic welfare when he wrote down some of his views...