Differing Opinions

Chantelle Bateman
Nathaniel Cline
Econ 105
March 12, 2011
Differing Opinions
Throughout the following text differing opinions of classical economists will be explored and critiqued. Starting with Malthus and his theory of population in how it relates to distribution and Corn Laws for domestic growth. Next will be Malthus’s counter idealists Ricardo with his comparative advantage and theory of rent. And concluding will be yet another economic theorist Marx with his theory of wage and premise along with his speculation on labor value.
Malthus had a particularly interesting way of thinking about people, wages and population. He was one of rare belief that saw poverty as a positive barrier in population growth. According to Malthusian principles people without higher means were less likely to have children that they could not support. If wages were to increase Malthus speculated and formulated an upward trend in birth rates. As wages went up so would the number of children. Alongside this death rates would decrease, leading to a mass population growth. In consequence he believed that wage increases would lead to instant population growth. This would inevitably cause economic stress, when there are more mouths to feed and less means of doing so we find ourselves in economic distress. In essence Malthus believed in keeping workers at a lower living standard and subordinate wage income to keep any potential for a baby boom which could crash our economic system far from possible.
Malthus was also a supporter of the landlords. Due to undesirable population growth and immigration the need for food was great in urban cities. Importation of food meant bad business for the landlord. Corn Laws were issued as import taxes on foreign grain. These tariffs were designed to protect the U.K. from less expensive competitors on the market. This was beneficial for the landlord because it lead to a higher demand of domestic product. Unfortunately this was not such an...