Ireland suffered under a devastating famine from 1845-9 in which millions died and fled the country, causing a drop in Irish population by a quarter, and causing long-lasting negative socio-economic and demographic effects on the country. At the time the economic theories of English Reverend Thomas Robert Malthus were politically popular and generally accepted to be true. Basically speaking Malthus posited that rising GDP per capita leads to rise in population, and raising populations in turn lead to falling GDP per capita, and if population increases at too high a rate a Malthusian catastrophe will occur in the form of disease, war or famine. Malthusianism has been demonstrated to not be an inaccurate model of modern societies, where technology has allowed food production to rise with population. Is the poor Government policy or growing population that causes famine ?

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