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Knut Wicksell on Population and Poverty: A General Equilibrium Approach

In: Seven Figures in the History of Swedish Economic Thought

Author

Listed:
  • Mats Lundahl

    (Stockholm School of Economics)

Abstract

Knut Wicksell’s writings on poverty and population are not considered to belong to his most original pieces (Uhr, 1951, pp. 832–834, 1962, pp. 3, 59–60, 328–329, 1991a; Gårdlund, 1996; Gustafsson, 1961, pp. 203, 226; Fong, 1976, p. 314; Henriksson, 1991, p. 40; Pålsson Syll, 2002, p. 241). If we caricature a little, the way Wicksell’s views on population and to poverty are usually conceived of is the following. The sex drive of mankind leads it to reproduce in geometric progression, as hypothesized by Malthus. Food production, on the other hand, only increases in arithmetic progression, also à la Malthus. This is an impossible situation, which can go on for a limited time only. People get poorer and then attempt to emigrate if they can. For those who fail, the vices of drunkenness and prostitution lurk around the corner. The only escape goes through the systematic use of contraceptives within the marriage. The optimum population is the one that maximizes the economic well-being of the population. ‘The optimum population theory is the core of Wicksell’s population theory’, summarizes Monica Fong (1976, p. 315), and this is usually the only credit he receives when his writings on population are mentioned (Robbins, 1927, note, p. 118; Gottlieb, 1945, pp. 291–292; Spengler, 1983; Pitchford, 1974, p. 87; Hutchinson, 1967, p. 391; Fong, 1976, p. 314; Lindahl, 1958, p. 35; Schumpeter, 1954, p. 582; Sommarin, 1926–1927, p. 29).

Suggested Citation

  • Mats Lundahl, 2015. "Knut Wicksell on Population and Poverty: A General Equilibrium Approach," Palgrave Macmillan Books, in: Seven Figures in the History of Swedish Economic Thought, chapter 4, pages 84-104, Palgrave Macmillan.
    • Handle: RePEc:pal:palchp:978-1-137-29309-1_4
    DOI: 10.1057/9781137293091_4
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