A Political Economic Study Of Malthus’s Thought Of Poor Relief

Malthus is an important figure in the history of economic thought.He is famous for his population principle,which made him a pessimist in classical economics.The criticism of the Poor Law is the most prominent ideological branch of the Malthusian population principle.Malthus opposed the diocese law that restricted the free flow of labor,and opposed providing direct assistance to the poor,because direct assistance would produce more poor people.However,compared with Malthus’ s anxiety about the situation of the poor,his image of "ogre" advocating war and plague is more popular.The prejudice and arrogance of later generations towards Malthus’ s thought is a great regret in the history of economic thought.The author believes that although Malthus is committed to abolishing the Poor Law,his thought of poverty relief is not the enemy of the poor in essence-he advocates free education for the poor,free medical care for the poor,immigration support,and relief for the purpose of disaster reduction.Based on Malthus’ s main works,this thesis reinterprets Malthus’ s thought of poverty relief from three perspectives:the background of his thought of poverty relief,the economic analysis in the thought of poverty relief and the moral core in the thought of poverty relief,in order to explain the misunderstanding of Malthus.The author believes that Malthus’ s thought of poverty relief not only has a rigorous economic analysis,but also has a profound moral core.From the perspective of economic analysis: on the one hand,Malthus believes that simple relief for the poor is not conducive to the real growth of labor wages;On the other hand,Malthus attaches great importance to the property rights and supply of luxury goods,because both of them are conducive to the people’s habit of diligence and are necessary conditions in his economic growth theory.From the perspective of moral core: Malthus advocated moral restraint in the second edition of the Essay,the core of which is to encourage the people to establish self-reliance,restrain the primitive passion including lust,and choose to marry later and have children later.He believed that the main cause of poverty was not the government,but the poor themselves.It was the carelessness and indulgence of the poor that made them fall into poverty,and the lack of understanding of the main cause of poverty would seriously damage civil liberties.Finally,Malthus advocated that the poor should be educated to follow the principle of population and cultivate their moral cultivation of prudent to get out of the poverty trap.Malthus’ s thought of helping the poor not only promoted the development of classical political economics,but also has an important reference for contemporary society.How to ensure that the people do not become poor again and how to achieve common prosperity,China is still facing a severe test.Although in different times,Malthus’ s thought of poor relief,especially the moral core of his thought,can still be used today.