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The third proposition is also invalid. Only a poor backward community is bound by its means of subsistence. As it develops, bare necessaries of life occupy a diminishing proportion of its wealth. At an advanced stage, food production ceases to be a check on growth of population. An advanced country may have its food problem, its food production would not, however, govern the size of its population. Total output and several economic forces influence the domestic food production in determination of the size of population.
Malthus's conclusion that any increase in food production causes population to grow to the limits of food available, does not hold. Increase in production of food articles and improvement in their distribution may induce growth of population, within limits, in a developing country. Avoidance of famine and rise in nutritional standard reduce infant normality and overall death rate. A country with death rate may reduce death rate by ten points through improvement of food supply and with a constant birth rate, may raise population by one percent per annum, doubling it in seventy years16. In the process of economic growth, improvement in food supply is followed by, or accompanied with, improvement in medical service in two stages, preventive public health measures and curative medical facilities to individuals. Public health measures may reduce death rate by another ten points and, with birth rate constant at factory, may raise population by two percent per annum, doubling it in thirty five years, Extension of medical facilities to individuals may reduce death rate by another ten per thousand and, with constant birth rate, may raise population by three percent per annum, doubling it in twenty five years17. After battles against human morality have reduced death rate to around ten per thousand, or even before that stage, economic growth starts taking care of birth rate. It gradually makes children more costly to maintain and less available as means to supplement family income and thus, induces people to adopt measures to reduce birth rate. Availability of food ceases to play its part in reduction of death rate at early stages of development. There is no evidence to indicate that it ever increases birth rate significantly. Birth rate is governed by marginal cost and marginal utility of children18. The one rises and other falls only at higher stages of economic development. Malthus was ignorant of the entire process. Yet he produced a theory, wrong and dangerous, which finds followers among people all over the world.
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16 Lewis. op.cit.p.306.
17 Ibid. p. 307.
18 Leibenstein : Economic Backwardness and Economic Growth pp. 161.
* Contributed by: -
Dr. R. P. Verma,
Ex. H.O.D. & Dean, Commerce and Business Management Dept.,
Arabinda Bhandari,
Strategic Management Researcher,
Ranchi University, Ranchi.
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