MALTHUS AND ECONOMIC POLICY
If Malthus was at odds with the mainstream of the classical tradition in his analysis of 'gluts', he also parted company with many of his contemporaries on other matters. While most classicists favoured free trade (particularly in agricultural commodities), Malthus defended the agricultural protection provided by the Corn Laws.
While most of his contemporaries opposed unproductive expenditures (particularly government spending), Malthus - at least in certain circumstances - made a positive case for them. Perhaps even more puzzling was his attitude towards population control. In view of his fears of a population explosion and its consequences for human misery, one might have expected him to be a strong advocate of birth control. In fact, however, he opposed contraceptive practices, technically deficient (by modern standards) as they were in his day.Underlying these positions was a consistent, if dubious, rationale. Malthus attached prime importance to an expanded production of foodstuffs and he regarded a sharpening of incentives as essential to its achievement. Agricultural protection was thus justified on the grounds that high food prices would encourage productivity-raising investment in agriculture.
This attitude was bolstered by a subsidiary non-economic argument: it would be unwise, he maintained, for a small island to rely on imports for a substantial part of its nourishment. In times of war or national emergency, its position would be uncomfortably vulnerable.
Similarly, his opposition to birth control rested on the view that family responsibilities helped men to overcome their natural tendency to indolence and sloth. The pressure of necessity was an unrivalled spur to diligent and intensive work. His heretical recommendations on unproductive expenditures were addressed to a specific situation and were not defended as general propositions.
The remedies proposed, however, gave an important place to the employment of idle labour in tasks that would raise the productivity of the land.Though Malthus made some conspicuous departures from the standard classical position, his views on a wide range of policy issues were in full accord with those of the orthodox tradition. Apart from the exceptions already noted he was generally an advocate of the free market and an opponent of governmental restrictions. Like most of his classical contemporaries he attacked the Poor Laws. While he followed the path cleared by Smith, he provided - with the aid of his population analysis - some additional arguments for repeal or amendment. No longer were the Poor Laws objectionable primarily on the grounds that they interfered with labour mobility; Malthus also argued that they had the unfortunate effect of swelling claims on the nation's food supplies while making no contribution to their enlargement. Moreover, the existing system compounded the difficulties in at least two respects: not only did parish relief deaden incentives to work but it also enabled its recipients to reproduce at rates higher than would otherwise have been possible, thus intensifying the competition for a limited food supply.
Harsh though some of Malthus's views on policy appeared to be, it must be noted that, by his lights, they were inspired by a genuine concern for humanity. Malthus was almost alone among his contemporaries in urging public measures to alleviate post-war unemployment. His recommendations on the Poor Laws - to which he was militantly opposed - called for a gradual phasing out of parish relief. He advised withdrawal of public assistance only from the ablebodied; persons unequipped to earn their own living would retain a claim on state charity. But, most important, all of his views on economic policy stemmed from a conviction that constraints on food production imposed severe limits - limits that men could ignore but only at their peril - on the prospects for improvement in material circumstances.