Building a Strong Economy II

MY previous column noted that classical economists from the 17th to the 19th centuries devoted their research works in finding the sources of economic growth to build a strong national economy. For them, a strong economy would enable their country to fend off threats from their enemies and project it as an imperial power.

The search led many economic philosophers and economists to proffer an array of theories on economic growth. The English economist and apologist of the nobility class, Thomas Malthus, theorized that land and its ownership is the primary source of wealth. This is the reason why Malthus posited his pessimistic theory that population growth would simply outstrip any attempt to improve overall welfare of the people, and thus, the need for wars or pestilences to manage population size.