An essay on public happiness

by François-Jean de Chastellux

English translation of De la felicite publique noteworthy for its discussion of population from a Malthusian viewpoint a quarter of a century before Malthus. Chastellux discussed the relation of agriculture to population, maintaining that the size of any population depended on the state of agriculture and consequently that population could not increase beyond the limits of its subsistence. "A treatise ... that is not without merit." J.A. Schumpeter History of Economic Analysis

424 pages, Hardcover

First published January 1, 1969

About the author

François Jean de Beauvoir, Marquis de Chastellux, was a military officer who served during the War of American Independence as a major general in the French expeditionary forces led by general Comte de Rochambeau.

Also known as François Jean Chastellux.