Malthusian Model

The Malthusian model supplies a mechanism to explain the long-run population stability before 1800. There are three assumptions:

1. Each society has a birth rate, determined by customs regulating fertility, but increasing with material living standards.

2. The death rate in each society declines as living standards increase.

3. Material living standards decline as population increases.

Clark (2007) A Farewell to Alms Ch.2