Economic Growth
Dublin Core
Title
Economic Growth
Creator
Jean Charles Léonard de Sismondi
Source
New Principles of Political Economy
Date
1819
Text Item Type Metadata
Text
"I have endeavoured to establish in the book which I shall soon present anew to the public, that for riches to contribute to the happiness of all, being, as they are, the sign of all the material enjoyments of man, their increase must be in conformity to the increase of population, and that they must be distributed among this population, in proportions which cannot be disturbed without extreme danger. I propose to show that it is necessary for the happiness of all, that income should increase with capital, and that the population should not go beyond the income upon which it has to subsist; that consumption should increase with the population, and that reproduction should be equally proportioned to the capital which produces it and to the population [119] which consumes it. I show at the same time that each of these relations may be disturbed independently of the others; that income often does not inerease in proportion to capital; that population may increase without income being augmented; that a population more numerous, but more wretched, may require less for its consumption; that reproduction, in short, may be proportional to the capital to which it owes its returns, and not to the population which demands it; but that whenever any of these relations are disturbed, social suffering ensues."
Collection
Citation
Jean Charles Léonard de Sismondi, “Economic Growth,” History of Economics, accessed April 17, 2026, https://www.historysandd.margobergman.org/items/show/46.