Malthusian

comparative more Malthusian · superlative most Malthusian

1. Of, or relating to Thomas Malthus (1766–1834) or his views on human population and world resources.

   For first, this college life, opening to scholarships, and ending, perchance, as you political economists would desire, in Malthusian fellowships,—premiums for celibacy,— consider what manner of thing it is!

   1849, Edward Bulwer-Lytton, The Caxtons

   3 more examples

   Even under the best of circumstances, however, no one would depend on this Malthusian adjustment process to account for the ability of modern economies to maintain a constant saving rate and steady growth for 20 years at a time without catastrophe.

   1970, Robert M. Solow, Growth Theory: An Exposition, Oxford University Press, page 13

   A mixture of this Malthusian and ethno-nationalist thinking is being distilled into political campaigning, as in a political pamphlet described in Turner and Bailey’s research paper from SVP, the largest party in Switzerland’s federal assembly, which shows a city crowded by people and cars belching out pollution, with a tagline that translates to “stop massive immigration”.

   2021 November 21, Oliver Milman, “Climate denial is waning on the right. What’s replacing it might be just as scary”, in The Guardian

   This paper develops a dynamic Schumpeterian growth model to analyze how extractive institutions in the form of the resource appropriation by a politically dominant elite shape the transition from Malthusian stagnation to sustained long-run economic growth.

   2026, Klaus Prettner, Martin Stojanovikj, “Extractive institutions and the takeoff to long-run growth: A schumpeterian perspective”, in European Economic Review, →DOI

plural Malthusians

1. A supporter of the ideas of Thomas Malthus.

   As Tess grew older, and began to see how matters stood, she felt quite a Malthusian towards her mother for thoughtlessly giving her so many little sisters and brothers, when it was such a trouble to nurse and provide for them.

   1891, Thomas Hardy, chapter V, in Tess of the d’Urbervilles: A Pure Woman Faithfully Presented […], volume (please specify |volume=I to III), London: James R[ipley] Osgood, McIlvaine and Co., […], →OCLC