"On the whole, Malthus neither rendered an original contribution to the problem of reproduction, nor even grasped it fully. In his controversy with the followers of Ricardo, he operated with the concepts of simple commodity circulation, just as they did in their controversy with Sismondi. His quarrel with that school turns on the ‘unproductive consumption’ by the parasites of the surplus value; it is not a quarrel about the social foundations of capitalist reproduction. Malthus’ edifice tumbles to the ground as soon as the absurd mistakes in his theory of profits are uncovered. Sismondi’s criticism remains valid, and his problems remain unsolved even if we accept Ricardo’s theory of value with all its consequences."
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Academics from EnglandEssayists from EnglandPhilosophers from EnglandEconomists from EnglandClassical economists
Original Language: English
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Rosa Luxemburg The Accumulation of Capital (1913) Chapter 14. Translated from the German by Agnes Schwarzschild
https://en.wikiquote.org/wiki/Thomas_Robert_Malthus
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Thomas Robert Malthus
Thomas Robert Malthus (13 February 1766 – 29 December 1834) was an English demographer and political economist best known for his pessimistic but highly influential views on population growth.
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