F.A. Hayek: Economics, Political Economy and Social Philosophy

1910s, with the main focus being on his theory of population. His Essay was mentioned in the writings of some Japanese scholars in the 1880s. The earliest commentary in Japan on the Principles is thought to have been published in 1885, and a detailed study of the Principles was published in 1912 (412). Malthus’s ideas on population appeared in Japanese textbooks and novels in the late years of the nineteenth century. His ideas on population were used in support of internal and overseas migration designed to relieve population pressure in Japan due to its limited supply of land. There were ideological controversies between scholars who favoured Marxist policies and those who sought class harmony through social policy (440). Controversies persist today, as can be seen in the publications of Japanese scholars and in Japanese journals and conferences of societies specializing in the study of Malthus, Ricardo, and other areas of the history of economic thought. A necessarily brief review cannot possibly do justice to the wealth of information contained in a book that is a tribute to the immense research effort of its contributors. It will undoubtedly become a valuable source of information in the history of economic thought, and will surely stimulate discussion and controversy in the interpretation and assessment of Malthus’s economics.