Thomas Malthus, an 18th-century British economist, introduced the concept of the Malthusian Trap. According to this theory, which of the following statements best describes the dynamics of technological improvement, population, and living standards in pre-industrial societies?

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BlackTom AI · Accepted Answer

In this question, we’re evaluating the Malthusian view of pre-industrial dynamics involving technology, population, and living standards.
Option A: It states that a technological improvement temporarily raises the average product of labor and thus living standards, but then population increases in response until the average product of labor declines back to subsistence. This captures the core Malthusian idea: gains from technology raise output and well-being only briefly, because a larger population eventually erodes those gains as resources are stretched, bringing living standards back to the subsistence level. The cycle described—tech boost → population rise → back to subsistence—is precisely the trap Malthus described.
Option B: The claim that population growth is irrelevant to economic development and driven mainly by external factors like trade and colonialism is inconsistent with the Malthusian framework, which places population dynamics at the center of the story. In Malthusian theory, population responds to living standards and resource constraints, not independently from them.
Option C: Saying technological advancements in agriculture consistently outpace population growth and lead to a steady rise in per capita income directly contradicts the Malthusian trap. The trap argues the opposite: population growth eventually offsets technological gains, returning per capita living standards toward subsistence, rather than a sustained rise.
Option D: The idea that societies with higher population growth experience faster economic development due to more labor is not aligned with the Malthusian model. In pre-industrial economies, higher population typically undermines per capita living standards because output is spread over more people, not accelerated growth in living standards or development.
Overall, Option A uniquely matches the Malthusian dynamic of temporary improvements followed by a reversion to subsistence living as population expands, while the other choices misstate the role of population, technology, or the impact on living standards in the pre-industrial Malthusian context.

ECON3_WI25_A00 Online Quiz 1

Thomas Malthus, an 18th-century British economist, introduced the concept of the Malthusian Trap. According to this theory, which of the following statements best describes the dynamics of technological improvement, population, and living standards in pre-industrial societies?

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