In Our Time | 22 June 2011 | 0h 42m | Listen Later
Melvyn Bragg and guests discuss Malthusianism. Thomas Malthus argued that with population increasing exponentially, that food production could not keep pace – eventually a crisis would ensue. He suggested that famine, disease and wars acted as a natural corrective to overpopulation, and also suggested a number of ways in which humans could regulate their own numbers. The work caused a furore and fuelled debate about the size and sustainability of the human population ever since.