Hayekian evolution reconsidered: a reply to Hodgson

This is a reply to Geoffrey Hodgson's Comment on an earlierpaper by Caldwell (Hodgson on Hayek: a critique). Though certainareas of agreement are noted, differences in interpretationconcerning Hayek's views on the Malthus–Darwin relationship,on cultural evolution, on the extent to which Hayek may be characterisedas an ontogenist, and on methodological individualism remain.     

Progress and the economy of nature

Progress is a difficult concept, but the phenomenon itself seems to be more than just an illusion. In this paper we consider how a bioeconomic perspective can help to clarify matters, especially when we compare aspects of organic evolution to technological progress. Beginning with the influence of Malthus upon Darwin, we see how the latter's ideas differ in important respects from those of other biologists and from those of social scientists and philosophers. Consideration of biologist's views about competition and the reasons for specialization suggests ways in which matters might be clarified by a more 'entrepreneurial' view of the relationships of organisms to the natural economy.     

The corn model, gluts and surplus value

The controversy over Ricardo's corn model has focused on theinterpretation of his early writings. Here, Ricardo's lateruse of a corn model example in his dispute with Malthus overgluts is discussed. Malthus's own use of a corn model tablein attempting to justify his use of a labour commanded measureof value is analysed; it is shown that he calculates what Marxwas to describe as surplus value from the physical conditionsof production and the real wage.     

Alfred Marshall on Socialism

William Godwin had a dual influence on Thomas Robert Malthus. First, Malthus wrote the premier (1798) edition of his Essay on the Principle of Population to refute Godwin's thesis that institutional reforms could halt the growth of population and thereby pave the way toward universal affluence. There were only two checks on population, said Malthus in 1798: vice and misery. Second, pursuant to his discovery of virtuous checks on population in Scandinavia, Malthus reread Godwin's principal works. He now accepted Godwin's dual proposition that population growth could be stopped, even reversed, by the virtuous check of moral restraint and that this check could be made operational through institutional realignment. In the second (1803) edition of his Essay, Malthus argued, therefore, that poverty could be replaced by prosperity through institutional changes in the form of the introduction of universal education and gradual abolition of the poor law.     

Malthus on causality

Allegations of inconsistency and self-contradiction have regularly been levied against Malthus, but some of the allegations might be the result of inadequate appreciation of his use of a distinctive methodology involving a complex structure of causal relations. After an introductory summary of his general statements on causality, this paper analyses 26 selected topics that show how he deployed this methodology.     

Anti-Malthus: Conflict and the evolution of societies

The Malthusian theory of evolution disregards a pervasive fact about human societies: they expand through conflict. When this is taken account of the long-run favors not a large population at the level of subsistence, nor yet institutions that maximize welfare or per capita output, but rather institutions that generate large amount of free resources and direct these towards state power. Free resources are the output available to society after deducting the payments necessary for subsistence and for the incentives needed to induce production, and the other claims to production such as transfer payments and resources absorbed by elites. We develop the evolutionary underpinnings of this model, and examine the implications for the evolution of societies in several applications. Since free resources are increasing both in per capita income and population, evolution will favor large rich societies. We will show how technological improvement can increase or decrease per capita output as well as increasing population.     

Problems of Modern Technology

This essay identifies a contradiction between the flourishing interest in the environmental economics of the classical period and a lack of critical parsing of the works of its leading representatives. Its focus is the work of Adam Smith and Thomas Malthus. It offers a critical analysis of their contribution to environmental thought and surveys the work of their contemporary devotees. It scrutinizes Smith's contribution to what Karl Polanyi termed the "economistic fallacy," as well as his defenses of class hierarchy, the "growth imperative" and consumerism. It subjects to critical appraisal Malthus's enthusiasm for private property and the market system, and his opposition to market regulation. While Malthus's principal attraction to ecological economists lies in his having allegedly broadened the scope of economics, and in his narrative of scarcity, this article shows that he, in fact, narrowed the scope of the discipline and conceptualized scarcity in a reified and pseudo-scientific way.     

Book Reviews

Utopian ideals of communist, socialist, or even individualistic, free market societies have inspired humankind for centuries. Against the notions of "the end of ideology" or "the end of history" this article argues for the legitimacy of utopian discourse, but not by promoting a specific utopian plan. It is shown that even "anti-utopians" such as Marx and Hayek end up promoting a utopia of their own. Instead of rejecting utopianism, what is required is a meta-utopian discourse in which the idea of a perfect society is rejected but the potential and limitations of different kinds of utopias can be measured. Key parameters are outlined via a critical consideration of the writings of Hayek, Malthus, Marx, and Veblen. The idea of evotopia is established to accommodate the elements of novelty and variety which are missing in much utopian thinking.     

Does the Mortality Decline Promote Economic Growth?

This paper analyzes qualitatively and quantitatively the effects of declining mortality rates on fertility, education and economic growth. The analysis demonstrates that if individuals are prudent in the face of uncertainty about child survival, a decline in an exogenous mortality rate reduces precautionary demand for children and increases parental investment in each child. Once mortality is endogenized, population growth becomes a hump-shaped function of income per capita. At low levels of income population growth rises as income per capita rises leading to a Malthusian steady-state equilibrium, whereas at high levels of income population growth declines leading to a sustained growth steady-state equilibrium.     

Some personal reflections on the history of Bioeconomics

This is a rather impressionist report of my recollections of the history of the bioeconomics field.