ABSTRACT
A characteristic of Malthus’s macroeconomics is his insistence on the multicausality of economic phenomena. In analysing the causes of economic growth and depression he considered a number of alternative causes, but the cause on which he put the greatest emphasis was the effective demand for consumer goods, which he regarded as the final purpose of production. He argued that the stimulation of effective demand required not only supply-side causes, such as the supply of land and other materials, but also a wider distribution of income and wealth and a reduction in economic inequality, so that more purchasing power is directed towards those with a higher propensity to consume.
