HONORS ECONOMICS POPULATION, HUNGER & WOMEN

MALTHUS THOMAS MALTHUS, AN EARLY ECONOMIST, ARGUED THAT DEVELOPMENT  HUNGER &POVERTY BECAUSE POPULATION GROWTH OUTSTRIPPED FOOD PRODUCTION POPULATION GROWTH FOOD PRODUCTION

SCARCITY MALTHUS DISCOVERED THE CONCEPT OF SCARCITY SCARCITY: NEVER ENOUGH OF A GOOD (FOOD) TO SATISFY EVERYONE’S DEMAND DEMAND > SUPPLY === SCARCE = HIGH PRICE (DIAMONDS) PLENTIFUL = LOW PRICE (AIR) === PRODUCTIVITY GROWS SLOWER THAN POPULATION  FAMINE ECONOMIC GROWTH  POPULATION GROWTH FASTER GROWTH  FOOD DEFICIT FASTER GROWTH  FOOD DEFICIT

SURPLUS POPULATION HOW TO KEEP POPULATION UNDER CONTROL? MALTHUS: KEEP WAGES LOW (STARVATION WAGES) & LET THE “EXCESS” POPULATION DIE OF STARVATION FEEDING THE HUNGRY ONLY POSTPONES & EXACERBATES THE “POPULATION BOMB” === “MORAL HAZARD” === KEEPING PEOPLE ALIVE INCREASED THE GAP BETWEEN POPULATION & FOOD MAKING THE CRISIS WORSE === CHINA ADOPTED “MALTHUSIAN” (ONE-CHILD) POLICIES US: “OCTUPLET MOM”

DEMOGRAPHIC TRANSITION AS COUNTRIES DEVELOP, THEY UNDERGO A DEMOGRAPHIC TRANSITION POOR SOCIETIES = HIGH BIRTH & DEATH RATES. LIFE EXPECTANCY = LOW / INFANT MORTALITY = HIGH BIRTH RATES MUST BE HIGH DEATH RATES DROP AS HEALTH IMPROVES, BUT SOME STILL HAVE MANY CHILDREN  POPULATION EXPLOSION WHEN COUNTRIES MATURE, BIRTH RATES DROPS & POPULATION STABILIZES

OVERPOPULATION / UNDERPOPULATION DEVELOPING WORLD = OVERPOPULATION, BUT IN DEVELOPED WORLD = UNDERPOPULATION TO MAINTAIN CURRENT POPULATION, FERTILITY RATE MUST BE 2.1

FEMALE PARTICIPATION IN THE LABOR FORCE WOMEN FACE A CHOICE: WORK OR CHILDREN. A GRAPH OF WOMEN WORKING IS A “M-CURVE” AS AGE OF CHILDBEARING RISES, THE NUMBER OF CHILDREN DECLINES

SEX RATIO & THE MARRIAGE MARKET SEX RATIO: NUMBER OF MEN TO WOMEN BIOLOGICALLY: MEN < WOMEN POOR COUNTRIES: MEN > WOMEN RICH COUNTRIES: MEN ≤ WOMEN === WOMEN ARE SCARCE (SEX RATIO > 1) “PRICE” / VALUE IS HIGH WOMEN  PRECIOUS OBJECTS ROMANCE / CHIVALRY HIGH VIRGINITY / CHASTITY PRIZED === WOMEN ARE PLENTIFUL (SEX RATIO < 1) “PRICE” / VALUE IS LOW (CHEAP) MARRIAGE MARKET FAVORS MEN PROMISCUITY COMMON

VIOLENCE AGAINST WOMEN HALF OF LATIN AMERICAN WOMEN REPORT BEING A VICTIM OF DOMESTIC VIOLENCE RAPE STATUTES WEAKLY ENFORCED; ONLY “GOOD WOMEN” CAN BE VICTIMS OF RAPE. RAPE = CRIME AGAINST THE COMMUNITY NOT INDIVIDUAL WOMEN (HONOR KILLINGS) MOREOVER, THE LACK OF CONTRACEPTION IN THE REGION MAKES STERILIZATION THE MOST COMMON METHOD OF PREVENTING CHILDBIRTH STERILIZATIONS ARE TWICE AS COMMON IN LATIN AMERICA COMPARED TO OTHER DEVELOPING REGIONS AND FOUR TIMES AS COMMON AS THE DEVELOPED WORLD DEATHS FROM CERVICAL CANCER HIGHER

SHRINKING POPULATIONS FEWER CHILDREN = SMALLER LABOR FORCE NOT ENOUGH PEOPLE TO WORK & SUPPORT THE EXPANDING ELDERLY POPULATION

QUALITY VS. QUANTITY AGRICULTURAL SOCIETIES MORE CHILDREN = WEALTH. CHILDREN WORK & INCREASE OUTPUT BEFORE SOCIAL SECURITY CHILDREN = SOCIAL SUPPORT IN OLD AGE MORE CHILDREN  HAPPY OLD AGE FAMILY RESOURCES CONCENTRATED ON THE ELDEST MALE CHILD RESPONSIBLE FOR PARENT’S CARE INDUSTRIAL SOCIETIES CHILDREN = ECONOMIC BURDENS NEED MORE SKILLS TO BE SUCCESSFUL. ========= FEWER CHILDREN = INVESTMENT IN EDUCATION & WEALTH CONCENTRATION FEWER, BETTER EDUCATED CHILDREN MAKES ECONOMIC SENSE, BUT CHILDREN BECOME “TOO VALUABLE” TO RISK. PROMOTES PRIVATE WEALTH BUT UNDERMINE THE NATIONAL FINANCES AND POWER

LABOR FORCE BORROW SAVE

STATISTICS MALTHUS’ EXPLANATION HAS BEEN INFLUENTIAL FOR EXPLAINING ENVIRONMENTAL (TOO MUCH POLLUTION) & ECONOMIC CRISES (TOO MUCH DEBT) SINCE INDEPENDENCE, INDIA’S POPULATION: 400 MILLION  OVER 1 BILLION INDIA HAS 2.5% OF THE LAND BUT 15% OF ITS PEOPLE (6 TIMES AVERAGE POPULATION DENSITY) 35% UNDER 1570% RURAL; 32% ILLITERATE IN THE 1960s & 1970s, MANY PREDICTED AN INDIAN POPULATION CRISIS & SUPPORTED DRASTIC MEASURES WHILE INDIA HAS HAD DROUGHTS --- IT HAS NOT HAD A FAMINE: WHY?

MISTAKES TECHNOLOGY MALTHUS DID NOT APPRECIATE HOW TECHNOLOGY WOULD IMPROVE PRODUCTIVITY TRADE MALTHUS DID NOT UNDERSTAND INTERNATIONAL TRADE WOULD BRING SURPLUS FOOD TO HUNGRY AREAS DEMOCRACY DEMOCRACY WOULD LEAD TO A MORE EQUITABLE DISTRIBUTION OF FOOD UNDERNOURISHMENT VS. STARVATION DATA FAMINES ARE MORE LIKELY TO OCCUR WHEN FOOD PRODUCTION IS HIGH AS WHEN IT IS LOW

MISTAKES