The New Dictionary of Cultural Literacy, Third Edition. 2002. Malthus, Thomas
(MAL -thuhs) A British economist of the late eighteenth and early nineteenth centuries, especially concerned with overpopulation. 1 ‡ Malthusian theories hold that populations will always increase faster than food supplies and that, therefore, hunger will always exist among the poorest populations (see Malthusianism ). 2 ‡ Malthus’s pessimistic views, along with those of David Ricardo , earned economics the reputation of being the “dismal science.” 3
The New Dictionary of Cultural Literacy, Third Edition. Edited by E.D. Hirsch, Jr., Joseph F. Kett, and James Trefil. Copyright © 2002 by Houghton Mifflin Company. Published by Houghton Mifflin Company. All rights reserved.
