T. R. Malthus

Thomas Robert Malthus (1766–1834) was an English clergyman and political economist. Educated at Jesus College, Cambridge, he was a country curate when he published An Essay on the Principle of Population anonymously in 1798, arguing that population tends to outrun the means of subsistence. He expanded it greatly in later editions, adding moral restraint as a check, and in 1805 became professor of history and political economy at the East India Company's college at Haileybury, the first such chair in Britain. His Principles of Political Economy and his friendly debates with David Ricardo shaped classical economics, and his essay helped both Darwin and Wallace toward natural selection.