An Essay on the Principle of Population

In this chapter, Malthus critically assesses the connection between the nature of happiness and the wealth of nations. He feels that Adam Smith often observed too strong a connection between happiness and wealth in his writing and has entirely missed instances where the wealth of a society increases without providing any comfort to the lower classes. Malthus defines happiness as health and “the command of the necessaries and conveniences of life” (96).

Smith believes that any surplus generated through the accumulation of wealth can be reinvested to hire more people and strengthen the labor force. If the number of workers remains the same, the increased demand will generate competition and raise the value of labor until a greater supply of hands can be found. However, Malthus argues that every instance of accumulated wealth is only useful to the lower class if it is followed by a proportional increase in the quantity of provisions. This is because Smith defines wealth as the annual produce of land and labor in a country. If a society only manufactures goods but does not cultivate its land, it may still increase in wealth according to Smith, but Malthus finds that such a country is without power to support a greater workforce and thus has no real funds for the maintenance of labor.