ABSTRACT
The designation ‘Malthusian’ here refers to a particular perspective on the association of resource scarcity and the prospect for long-run human economic growth. This perspective has a long history and traces its origin to the work of an English economist, Thomas R. Malthus (1766-1834) – hence the word Malthusian. The basic postulates of the Malthusian doctrine of resource scarcity and economic growth are as follows:
1 Resources are scarce in absolute terms. That is, humanity is endowed with a finite amount of material resources.
