Thomas Robert Malthus, the English economist, is coming back into fashion. It is his Essay on Population, 1798, which first states the Malthusian argument: “The power of population is indefinitely greater than the power in the earth to produce subsistence for man. Population unchecked, increases in a geometrical ratio. Subsistence increases only in an arithmetical ratio. A slight acquaintance with numbers will show the immensity of the first power in comparison of the second.”
April 18th, 2008 | Dan Denning | 6 comments | ContinuedAll Posts Tagged With: "food crisis"
Food, Fuel, and Finance: The Crisis of the Three Fs
The grand poobahs of the world’s economy are wringing their hands in worry over the three Fs, each its own kind of crisis: food, fuel, and finance. As usual, it’s the people at the margin (whether lending or with food) that are affected first when surplus turns to scarcity. Despite all the daily signs of abundance here in Australia, let us not forget that there are about four and half billion people on the planet who have little margin for error in their daily lives.
April 14th, 2008 | Dan Denning | 10 comments | Continued
The Next Crisis Will Be Over Food
The United States is now a net importer of food, we read recently. If we understand that correctly, there is no longer enough food Made in the USA to feed Americans’ appetites. Colleague Dan Denning began a nervous discussion on the topic when he sent this article from the Financial Times, with its headline reading: “The next crisis will be over food”
February 25th, 2008 | Bill Bonner | 5 comments | Continued