Attack of the Malthus

Malthus, the pessimistic economist of 200 years ago, has made a comeback, this time haunting Africa. Malthus, the man famous for his “human population exponentially grows until the land can’t sustain them, at which point they starve, die of disease, or kill each other” theory, is temporarily out of the red-zone on the Idiot Meter.

Note this *article* mentioned in Greg Mankiw’s Blog.

So if we give financial aid to Africa (or medicines), it’ll get stuck in a Malthusian Trap. That’s right, temporary aid will boost the birth rate higher than the death rate (money to raise more kids, buy more medicines and food, etc.), but since Africa hasn’t had an industrial revolution, Mother Nature won’t support this – carrying capacity exceeded!, return to subsistence it is.

This reminds me of the inhabitants of Rapa Nui/Easter Island. These scantily clad islanders became too many; they cut down all their trees, ran out of food, made war upon each other, and then became cannibals, falling prey to the deadly scourge of the pre-industrialized society, Malthus.

Dun dun dun Malthus strikes again!