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Stigler on Malthus: A Note

Published online by Cambridge University Press:  11 June 2009

Bryan L. Boulier  and
Jack W. Wilson
Bryan L. Boulier
Affiliation:
George Washington University
Jack W. Wilson
Affiliation:
North Carolina State University
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Extract

In an essay on “The Ricardian Theory of Value and Distribution,” Stigler, commenting on Malthus' example of a geometrically increasing population and arithmetically increasing output, states the following:

“… Malthus' ratios implicitly assumed sharply diminishing returns, for his numbers define the production function,

L = 2p-1

where L is labor (proportional to population) and P is produce. With this production function, indeed, if workers received a wage equal to their marginal product, the aggregate wage bill would be independent of the size of the labor force, and population simply could not grow!”

Type
Articles
Information
Journal of the History of Economic Thought , Volume 9 , Issue 1 , Fall 1987 , pp. 95
Copyright
Copyright © Cambridge University Press 1987

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References

FOOTNOTES

1 Stigler, G., “The Richardian Theory of Value and Distribution,” The Journal of Political Economy, Vol. LX (06 1952)Google Scholar. Reprinted in Stigler, G., Essays in the History of Economics, Chicago: The University of Chicago Press, 1965.Google Scholar