Climate change, Malthus and collapse

Norman Schofield

Chapter 12 in Handbook on the Economics of Climate Change, 2020, pp 260-280 from Edward Elgar Publishing

Abstract: The Agricultural Revolution about 10,000 years ago triggered the rapid growth of world population, but also created Malthusian traps where population outgrew the availability of food resources. For example, the Roman Empire constantly faced such a trap. The British Empire in contrast, was able to expand its resource base, using the innovations of the Industrial Revolution. This chapter draws a parallel between Rome and our global economy to suggest that climate change could induce a Malthusian trap for us unless we pay heed to Pope Francis’s call for us to “Care for Our Common Home†. Since this presents us with a common goal, it is possible that the logic of the Condorcet Jury Theorem may give us hope that we can make a wise choice over our future.

Keywords: Economics and Finance; Environment (search for similar items in EconPapers)
Date: 2020
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