We reconstruct the arguments employed by Malthus in the second edition of An Essay on the Principle of Population (1803) concerning the superiority of a balanced growth pattern and show their theoretical consistency with Malthus’s food self-sufficiency policy proposal in the 1815 pamphlet, Grounds of An Opinion. Malthus (1803) argued that the contemporary British unbalanced and manufacture-export led growth pattern was not sustainable in the long-run and, accordingly, he sponsored food self-sufficiency as a safer long-run policy option than free foreign corn imports. Moreover, we investigate the theoretical influences on Malthus’s analysis of international corn trade, particularly the Smithian one.
Is Food Self-Sufficiency Conducive to Long-Term Growth? An Assessment of Malthus (1803) on the International Corn Trade.
SALVADORI, NERI;
2017-01-01
Abstract
We reconstruct the arguments employed by Malthus in the second edition of An Essay on the Principle of Population (1803) concerning the superiority of a balanced growth pattern and show their theoretical consistency with Malthus’s food self-sufficiency policy proposal in the 1815 pamphlet, Grounds of An Opinion. Malthus (1803) argued that the contemporary British unbalanced and manufacture-export led growth pattern was not sustainable in the long-run and, accordingly, he sponsored food self-sufficiency as a safer long-run policy option than free foreign corn imports. Moreover, we investigate the theoretical influences on Malthus’s analysis of international corn trade, particularly the Smithian one.I documenti in IRIS sono protetti da copyright e tutti i diritti sono riservati, salvo diversa indicazione.
