Out of the statements given below, identify the ones that can be used…

The correct answer is Option (2) → (A), (C), (E) Only

(A) Economic growth could outstrip population growth Correct. Malthus held that population will always grow faster than the means of subsistence. His theory was challenged by theorists who claimed that economic growth could outstrip population growth.

(B) The historical experience of Asian countries Incorrect. The most effective refutation came from the historical experience of European countries, not Asian ones. One word was changed here, and a true statement became false. Read every word before you mark the answer.

(C) Problems like poverty and starvation were caused by the unequal distribution of economic resources rather than by population growth Correct. Liberal and Marxist scholars criticised Malthus for blaming poverty on population growth. They argued that an unjust social system let a wealthy minority live in luxury while the majority lived in poverty.

(D) Both population and agricultural production grew in arithmetic progression Incorrect. This is not even Malthus’s own claim. He held that population rises in geometric progression (2, 4, 8, 16) while agricultural production grows only in arithmetic progression (2, 4, 6, 8).

(E) Changing pattern of population growth caused by controlling outbreaks of pandemic Correct. In European countries the pattern of population growth changed from the latter half of the nineteenth century: birth rates declined and outbreaks of epidemic diseases were being controlled. Food production and standards of living kept rising despite the growth of population, which proved Malthus’s predictions false. (A pandemic is an epidemic that affects a very wide geographical area.)