Contrary to conventional wisdom, Thomas Malthus in his An Essay on the Principle of Population (1798) did not actually predict a population crisis, but instead merely showed that William Godwin had overlooked an important mathematical truth. Malthus’s treatise did contain a warning, however, that the ideals behind the French Revolution would spawn utopian schemes that would destroy vital social institutions—a prophecy whose realization makes the book worth reading today.

Energy and the EnvironmentNatural ResourcesRegulationScience and Public Policy
Other Independent Review articles by J. Daniel Hammond
Summer 2022 Evicitionism: The Compromise Solution to the Pro-life Pro-choice Debate Controversy
Winter 2020/21 American Conservatism: Reclaiming an Intellectual Tradition
Winter 2013/14 What to Expect When No One’s Expecting: America’s Coming Demographic Disaster