The world that did not grow
1.[3p] In a Malthusian economy, what happens in the long run after a permanent improvement in farming technology?
In a Malthusian economy, what happens in the long run after a permanent improvement in farming technology?
The answer is: The population grows and the wage returns to where it started
The answer is: The population grows and the wage returns to where it started
The answer is: The population grows and the wage returns to where it started
2.[1p] On the Phelps Brown and Hopkins index, English builders' real wages reached a level in the 1450s that they did not reliably exceed again until the 1870s.
On the Phelps Brown and Hopkins index, English builders' real wages reached a level in the 1450s that they did not reliably exceed again until the 1870s.
The answer is: True
3.[2p] A population doubling every twenty-five years is growing at what annual rate, in per cent?
A population doubling every twenty-five years is growing at what annual rate, in per cent?
4.[3p] England had 8.66 million people in 1801 and 16.74 million in 1851. What is the annual growth rate over that period, in per cent?
England had 8.66 million people in 1801 and 16.74 million in 1851. What is the annual growth rate over that period, in per cent?
5.[2p] Why did English real wages roughly double in the century after 1348?
Why did English real wages roughly double in the century after 1348?
The answer is: Half the workers had died while the land, buildings and livestock remained, so labour became scarce relative to land
The answer is: Half the workers had died while the land, buildings and livestock remained, so labour became scarce relative to land
The answer is: Half the workers had died while the land, buildings and livestock remained, so labour became scarce relative to land
6.[3p] Match each term to what it does in the model.
Match each term to what it does in the model.
Positive check
Preventive check
European Marriage Pattern
Unchecked growth
delays marriage and lowers births
Malthus's American benchmark
raises deaths when wages fall
raises the resting wage
Show the answer
Positive check: raises deaths when wages fall Preventive check: delays marriage and lowers births European Marriage Pattern: raises the resting wage Unchecked growth: Malthus's American benchmark
7.[2p] A new crop raises output per acre in a Malthusian economy. Put the consequences in the order the model gives them.
A new crop raises output per acre in a Malthusian economy. Put the consequences in the order the model gives them.
The wage rises above the replacement level
More children are born and more survive
The wage returns to where births balance deaths
Land per worker falls, so output per worker falls
Show the answer
a, b, c, d
8.[3p] Which of these are correctly stated in the lesson?
Which of these are correctly stated in the lesson?
Select all that apply
The answer is: Malthus took his doubling time from the American colonies, whose census supports it, Subsistence in the model means whatever wage makes births equal deaths, not the point of starvation, The Statute of Labourers failed to hold English wages down after the plague
9.[2p] Malthus assumed food supply grows arithmetically. Why does his conclusion survive if it grows geometrically instead?
Malthus assumed food supply grows arithmetically. Why does his conclusion survive if it grows geometrically instead?
The answer is: The trap needs only that unchecked population growth outrun food growth, whatever the shape of either
The answer is: The trap needs only that unchecked population growth outrun food growth, whatever the shape of either
The answer is: The trap needs only that unchecked population growth outrun food growth, whatever the shape of either