--- title: "Meaning & Key Takeaway of: On the whole it may be observed, that the…" description: "\"On the whole it may be observed, that the specific use of a body of unproductive consumers, is to give encouragement to wealth by maintaining such a ba..." image: "https://sms4smile.com/quotes/i/68b/thomas-malthus-7621_balance_on-the-whole-it-may-be-observed-that-the_34194.jpg" --- # On the whole it may be observed, that the specific use of… ![“On the whole it may be observed, that the specific use of a body of unproductive consumers, is to give encouragement to wealth by maintaining such a balance between produce and consumption as will give the greatest exchangeable value to the results of the national industry.” quote by Thomas Malthus](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/i/68b/thomas-malthus-7621_balance_on-the-whole-it-may-be-observed-that-the_34194.jpg) [Download](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/i/68b/thomas-malthus-7621_balance_on-the-whole-it-may-be-observed-that-the_34194.jpg) [Open image](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/i/68b/thomas-malthus-7621_balance_on-the-whole-it-may-be-observed-that-the_34194.jpg) > “On the whole it may be observed, that the specific use of a body of unproductive consumers, is to give encouragement to wealth by maintaining such a balance between produce and consumption as will give the greatest exchangeable value to the results of the national industry.” [Thomas Malthus](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/thomas-malthus/) ## About This Quote This interpretation was drafted with AI assistance. It is one reading of the quote, not the author's own explanation. It argues that a surplus of non‑productive consumers stabilizes wealth by balancing production and consumption, maximizing the market value of national output. **In simple terms:** Surplus consumers boost economic value. Key Takeaway Balance of production and consumption drives wealth. Themes economics wealth distribution consumer behavior national industry value theory Mood analytical critical Type theoretical economic When to use this quote - policy planning - industrial strategy - economic forecasting Key Concepts exchangeable value production-consumption equilibrium Practical Applications - macroeconomic modeling - public policy design Questions to Reflect On - How does consumer surplus affect national wealth? - Can this balance be sustained in modern economies? ★ ★ ★ ★ ★ No ratings yet [Balance](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/about/balance/) [Body](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/about/body/) [Consumers](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/about/consumers/) [Consumption](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/about/consumption/) [Encouragement](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/about/encouragement/) [Giving](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/about/giving/) [Industry](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/about/industry/) [Money](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/about/money/) [Values](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/about/values/) [Wealth](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/about/wealth/) ## Related quotes > [Where are we to look for the consumption required but among the unproductive labourers of Adam Smith?.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/thomas-malthus/where-are-we-to-look-for-the-consumption-required-but-among-the/) [Thomas Malthus](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/thomas-malthus/) > [“Having everyone randomly probe everyone else is an unproductive waste of time.”](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/ray-dalio/having-everyone-randomly-probe-everyone-else-is-an-unproductive-waste/) [Ray Dalio](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/ray-dalio/) > [Without goals our efforts may be scattered and unproductive.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/ezra-taft-benson/without-goals-our-efforts-may-be-scattered-and-unproductive/) [Ezra Taft Benson](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/ezra-taft-benson/) > [“Gossiping is unproductive but very destructive.”](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/jackson-taviri/gossiping-is-unproductive-but-very-destructive/) [Jackson Taviri](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/jackson-taviri/) > [Human nature demands recognition. Without it, people lose their sense of purpose and become dissatisfied, restless, and unproductive.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/ricardo-semler/human-nature-demands-recognition-without-it-people-lose-their-sense/) [Ricardo Semler](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/ricardo-semler/) > [When you know something or someone in your life is unhealthy or unproductive, that you have grown beyond where they are and where they…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/iyanla-vanzant/when-you-know-something-or-someone-in-your-life-is-unhealthy-or/) [Iyanla Vanzant](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/iyanla-vanzant/) > [It's strange, when you think about it, that we spend close to a third of our lives asleep. Why do we do it? While…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/maria-konnikova/it-s-strange-when-you-think-about-it-that-we-spend-close-to-a-third/) [Maria Konnikova](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/maria-konnikova/) > [My gift to you will be to take away your freedom of choice for a while. 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Don’t try to figure out what it is. This can be frustrating and unproductive.” ](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/steven-l-peck/y-ou-are-here-to-learn-something-don-t-try-to-figure-out-what-it-is/) [Steven L. Peck](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/steven-l-peck/) > [This constant, unproductive preoccupation with all the things we have to do is the single largest consumer of time and energy.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/kerry-gleeson/this-constant-unproductive-preoccupation-with-all-the-things-we-have/) Kerry Gleeson > [The bourgeois thinkers of the eighteenth century thus turned Aristotle's formula on its head: satisfactions which the Greek philosopher had identified with leisure were…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/alain-de-botton/the-bourgeois-thinkers-of-the-eighteenth-century-thus-turned/) [Alain de Botton](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/alain-de-botton/) > [Historically, usury was defined as any interest whatever on an unproductive loan.Our whole banking system I have ever abhorred, I continue to abhor, and…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/john-adams/historically-usury-was-defined-as-any-interest-whatever-on-an/) [John Adams](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/john-adams/) ## More by Thomas Malthus > [The germs of existence contained in this spot of earth, with ample food, and ample room to expand in, would fill millions of worlds…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/thomas-malthus/the-germs-of-existence-contained-in-this-spot-of-earth-with-ample/) [Thomas Malthus](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/thomas-malthus/) > [The proposition of Mr. Ricardo, which states that a rise in the price of labour lowers the price of a large class of commodities,…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/thomas-malthus/the-proposition-of-mr-ricardo-which-states-that-a-rise-in-the-price/) [Thomas Malthus](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/thomas-malthus/) > [Thirty or forty proprietors, with incomes answering to between one thousand and five thousand a year, would create a much more effectual demand for…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/thomas-malthus/thirty-or-forty-proprietors-with-incomes-answering-to-between-one/) [Thomas Malthus](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/thomas-malthus/) > [Every endeavor should be used to weaken and destroy all those institutions relating to corporations, apprenticeships, &c, which cause the labours of agriculture to…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/thomas-malthus/every-endeavor-should-be-used-to-weaken-and-destroy-all-those/) [Thomas Malthus](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/thomas-malthus/) > [A great emigration necessarily implies unhappiness of some kind or other in the country that is deserted.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/thomas-malthus/a-great-emigration-necessarily-implies-unhappiness-of-some-kind-or/) [Thomas Malthus](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/thomas-malthus/) > [If I saw a glass of wine repeatedly presented to a man, and he took no notice of it, I should be apt to…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/thomas-malthus/if-i-saw-a-glass-of-wine-repeatedly-presented-to-a-man-and-he-took-no/) [Thomas Malthus](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/thomas-malthus/) > [The power of population is indefinitely greater than the power in the earth to produce subsistence for man.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/thomas-malthus/the-power-of-population-is-indefinitely-greater-than-the-power-in-the/) [Thomas Malthus](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/thomas-malthus/) > [ \[P\]opulation, when unchecked, goes on doubling itself every twenty-five years, or increases in a geometrical ratio. ... \[T\]he means of subsistence, under circumstances the… ](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/thomas-malthus/p-opulation-when-unchecked-goes-on-doubling-itself-every-twenty-five/) [Thomas Malthus](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/thomas-malthus/) > [It is not the most pleasant employment to spend eight hours a day in a counting house.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/thomas-malthus/it-is-not-the-most-pleasant-employment-to-spend-eight-hours-a-day-in/) [Thomas Malthus](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/thomas-malthus/) > [A writer may tell me that he thinks man will ultimately become an ostrich. I cannot properly contradict him.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/thomas-malthus/a-writer-may-tell-me-that-he-thinks-man-will-ultimately-become-an/) [Thomas Malthus](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/thomas-malthus/) > [The doctrine of population has been conspicuously absent, not because I doubt in the least its truth and vast importance, but because it forms…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/thomas-malthus/the-doctrine-of-population-has-been-conspicuously-absent-not-because/) [Thomas Malthus](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/thomas-malthus/) > [In a state therefore of great equality and virtue, where pure and simple manners prevailed, the increase of the human species would evidently be…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/thomas-malthus/in-a-state-therefore-of-great-equality-and-virtue-where-pure-and/) [Thomas Malthus](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/thomas-malthus/) > [The greatest talents have been frequently misapplied and have produced evil proportionate to the extent of their powers. 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Humphrey](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/hubert-h-humphrey/) > [“We don't need to strive towards balance, we rather need to work on the obstacles that are preventing the natural flow of balance.”](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/a-a-alebraheem/we-don-t-need-to-strive-towards-balance-we-rather-need-to-work-on-the/) [A.A. Alebraheem](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/a-a-alebraheem/) > [I think that kind of balance comes with the process of growing together as a band, the Little Dragon. We love to write, we…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/yukimi-nagano/i-think-that-kind-of-balance-comes-with-the-process-of-growing/) [Yukimi Nagano](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/yukimi-nagano/) > [Balance is the ability to be happy in the midst of the most chaotic or even boring or transient circumstance.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/frederick-lenz/balance-is-the-ability-to-be-happy-in-the-midst-of-the-most-chaotic/) [Frederick Lenz](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/frederick-lenz/) > [At times of recession, running a budget deficit is highly desirable. Once the economy begins to recover, you have to balance the budget. But…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/george-soros/at-times-of-recession-running-a-budget-deficit-is-highly-desirable/) [George Soros](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/george-soros/) > [It's my intention to make something stand outside the realm of album art, but it also feels comfortable to me to be in it.…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/john-dyer-baizley/it-s-my-intention-to-make-something-stand-outside-the-realm-of-album/) [John Dyer Baizley](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/john-dyer-baizley/) > [Once you've gotten your money in balance, you know how much you have to spend on things that are just fun.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/elizabeth-warren/once-you-ve-gotten-your-money-in-balance-you-know-how-much-you-have/) [Elizabeth Warren](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/elizabeth-warren/) > [I never understood how much running changes your life. I'm now obsessed. 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