Modern economists have rejected the Malthusian theory of maximum population, which if exceeded will spell misery in the country. Instead of the maximum population the modern economists have substituted the idea of optimum population.
By optimum population is meant the ideal number of the population that a country should have considering its resources. The optimum means the best and the most desirable size of a country’s population. When a country’s population is neither too big nor too small, but just that much which the country ought to have, it is called the optimum population. Given a certain amount of resources, state of technical knowledge and a certain stock of capital, there will be a definite size of the population at which real income of goods and services per capita will be the highest. This is optimum size. The optimum number can therefore be defined as the one at which per capita income is the highest.
If the population of a country is below the optimum, i.e. below what it ought to be, then the country is said to be under-populated. The number of the people is insufficient to take the fullest possible advantage of the natural and capital resources of the country. This is what happens in a new country. There resources are vast. Much can be produced, but there are not enough men to carry on the work of production efficiency. If, however, the population still goes on increasing and the optimum is exceeded, then we shall have a state of over-population. There will then be too many people in the land. The resources will not be sufficient to provide gainful employment to all. Per capita income will diminish; standard of living will fall; war, famine and disease will be constant companions of such a people. These are the symptoms of over population.
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