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Thomas Malthus (1766-1834) was a British economist whose research stimulated the first organized demographic studies. His main contribution to economics was his theory of population. It was published in his book, An Essay on the Principle of Population written in 1798.
This theory states that the population tends to grow faster than the supply of food that is available to fulfill its needs. A larger food supply stimulates an increase in population and if the population grows too fast, this growth is slowed by famine, disease or war.