The Classical Foundations of Population Thought: From Plato to Quesnay

1: Interpreting Ideas on Population.- 2: History and Utopia.- The Platonic City.- The Demography of the City.- Religion and Politics.- Space and Order.- Moderation and Excess.- A Totalitarian System?.- 3: There are no Riches other than Men.- Jean Bodin on Sovereignty.- Demographic Interpretations of Jean Bodin.- The Theory of Absolute Sovereignty and Population.- Bodin on Aristotle and Plato.- 4: The Prince and his Population.- From Montchretien to Colbert and Fenelon.- Merchantilism and Populationism.- About Population.- A National Economic Policy.- International Trade and the Colonies.- The Decline of Merchantilism: Political and Economic Factors.- For Want of Political Arithmetic.- 5: The Political Failure of an Economic Theory.- Quesnay and the Physiocracy.- Agriculture and Prosperity.- On population.- A failure and its Causes.- 6: Towards Demography.- The Prince, The Father , The Landlord.- The Conflict of Interests.- The Emergence of Individualism.- From Homo Eoconomicus to Homo Demographicus.- Bibliography.- Index