ABSTRACT
If we caricature a little, the way in which Wicksell’s views on population and poverty are usually conceived is the following. The sex drive of mankind leads it to reproduce in geometric progression, as hypothesized by Malthus. Food production, on the other hand, only increases in arithmetic progression, also à la Malthus. This is an unsustainable situation, which can last for a limited time only. People get poorer and then attempt to emigrate if they can. For those who fail, the vices of drunkenness and prostitution lurk around the corner. The only escape goes through the systematic use of contraceptives within the marriage. The optimum population is the one that maximizes the economic well-being of the population. ‘The optimum population theory is the core of Wicksell’s population theory,’ summarizes Monica Fong (1976: 315). This is usually the only credit he receives when his writings on population are mentioned.
