The Economics of the Very Long Run: From Fire to Finance in Two Million Years by Professor Mark Schaffer, Gresham College

This lecture provided a useful insight into the history of economies and finance, over the course of two million years. From the beginnings of mankind to the current economic disaster we are in. Famous names such as Thomas Malthus and Charles Darwin were mentioned frequently and was apparent that they too affected or have been affected by the founding’s of modern day economics.

A recurrent theme that Professor Mark Schaffer used in his lecture was the tremendous impact that technology has had on the progression and formation of economies. The first clear example of this was the effects of fire on the expansion of economies and increases in living standards. The next new ‘technology’ that helped to further expand the economies of the time was the invention of agriculture. These new technologies and many more that were invented in the centuries to come such as the Industrial Revolution and wireless internet has caused wealth to increase and living standards to also follow the pattern.

New technologies lead to extra benefits for the people of the area/time. The creation of fire meant that early humans no longer had to spend hours eating raw meat and that the fire offered protection, warmth and even weapons. This led to positive consequences on the economy as humans now had more available time. The invention of agriculture meant that the hunter/gatherer humans began to settle down and even produce more children, this again had positive consequences on the economy as there were now more humans and potential to create villages and cities. However, a more recent example of the telephone has also had a significant impact on the economies of the time, as people can now communicate with others around the world, which would have expand the economy as people could communicate much faster than before.

Thomas Malthus and his work: ‘An Essay on the Principle of Population’ written in 1798, was a significant aspect of the lecture and it was clearly apparent that his work was controversial and accurate in explaining the changing levels of human population. This led to the formation of the Malthusian Model, which has three key parts: Equilibrium, Stability and Growth, which outline the growth of human population. It was evident that this theory of Malthus was far more plausible than his other theories such as his ‘doomsday prophecy’ which outlined the end of humanity as food production, which increases arithmetically, would be exhausted due to the geometrically increasing human population. 

Professor Schaffer also labelled Malthus the ‘grandfather of the theory of evolution’, as his works especially the Malthusian model helped Charles Darwin and others to formulate this revolutionary theory. This is evidently apparent as the first two parts of the Malthusian Model are shared with the theory of evolution as they both tackle long run changes in society and economies.

To conclude, the lecture was stimulating and thought provoking, as it provided the brief history of the formation of economies and some very important people who theorised the entire process.