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The Principle of Population for the 21st Century: The Never Coming Stationary State

Author

Listed:
  • Martin Machay

    (School of Business Administration, Silesian University)

Abstract
One of the most enchanting areas in economics is the forward thinking. While Malthus and Ricardo agreed on the gloomy vision of the future, Mill described the wider stationary state and foresaw it in a more optimistic way. Space sciences and improvements in our technology provided us with the solution decades ago, although economics did not notice this possible solution of the classical stationary state until now. This article incorporates this knowledge into economics. Calories integrate the supply of means of production and the demand for means of consumption in one market. The stationary state could come only if the demand for means of subsistence grows faster than the supply of means of production. Increasing scarcity of free calories exceeding the minimal required volume of it preventing the malnutrition and death will push the calorie price up while economy will move towards the stationary state. But where to take the land when the very last piece of it - even the deserts - will be already cultivated? Increasing scarcity of land opens possibility for firms to make profit from producing land. Thus, the classical stationary state is only an illusion.

Suggested Citation

  • Martin Machay, 2012. "The Principle of Population for the 21st Century: The Never Coming Stationary State," MENDELU Working Papers in Business and Economics 2012-18, Mendel University in Brno, Faculty of Business and Economics.
    • Handle: RePEc:men:wpaper:18_2012
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    File URL: http://ftp.mendelu.cz/RePEc/men/wpaper/18_2012.pdf
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    References listed on IDEAS

    as
    1. D. Gale Johnson, 2000. "Population, Food, and Knowledge," American Economic Review, American Economic Association, vol. 90(1), pages 1-14, March.
    2. Shmuel S. Oren & Stephen G. Powell, 1985. "Optimal Supply of a Depletable Resource with a Backstop Technology: Heal's Theorem Revisited," Operations Research, INFORMS, vol. 33(2), pages 277-292, April.
    3. Harold Hotelling, 1931. "The Economics of Exhaustible Resources," Journal of Political Economy, University of Chicago Press, vol. 39(2), pages 137-137.
    4. Johnson, D. Gale, 2002. "The declining importance of natural resources: lessons from agricultural land," Resource and Energy Economics, Elsevier, vol. 24(1-2), pages 157-171, February.
    5. Jevons, William Stanley, 1871. "The Theory of Political Economy," History of Economic Thought Books, McMaster University Archive for the History of Economic Thought, number jevons1871.
    6. Ricardo, David, 1821. "On the Principles of Political Economy and Taxation," History of Economic Thought Books, McMaster University Archive for the History of Economic Thought, edition 3, number ricardo1821.
    7. Malthus, Thomas Robert, 1798. "An Essay on the Principle of Population," History of Economic Thought Books, McMaster University Archive for the History of Economic Thought, number malthus1798.
    Full references (including those not matched with items on IDEAS)

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    Cited by:

    1. Martin Machay, 2016. "Death Rates in the Calorie Model," Acta Universitatis Agriculturae et Silviculturae Mendelianae Brunensis, Mendel University Press, vol. 64(6), pages 2053-2058.
    2. Martin Machay, 2018. "Land Degradation in the Calorie Model: Dynamics of the Stationary State," Acta Universitatis Agriculturae et Silviculturae Mendelianae Brunensis, Mendel University Press, vol. 66(6), pages 1543-1547.

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    More about this item

    Keywords

    stationary state; terraforming; food; population growth; nutrition; space economics;
    All these keywords.

    JEL classification:

    • J11 - Labor and Demographic Economics - - Demographic Economics - - - Demographic Trends, Macroeconomic Effects, and Forecasts
    • Q11 - Agricultural and Natural Resource Economics; Environmental and Ecological Economics - - Agriculture - - - Aggregate Supply and Demand Analysis; Prices
    • Q15 - Agricultural and Natural Resource Economics; Environmental and Ecological Economics - - Agriculture - - - Land Ownership and Tenure; Land Reform; Land Use; Irrigation; Agriculture and Environment
    • Q21 - Agricultural and Natural Resource Economics; Environmental and Ecological Economics - - Renewable Resources and Conservation - - - Demand and Supply; Prices
    • Y90 - Miscellaneous Categories - - Other - - - Other

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