One of the earliest critics of Malthusian theory was Karl Marx who referred ( in `` Capital '' , see Marx 's footnote on Malthus from Capital - a reference below ) to it as `` nothing more than a schoolboyish , superficial plagiary of De Foe , Sir James Steuart , Townsend , Franklin , Wallace '' and others , postulating that progress in science and technology would allow for indefinite exponential population growth . One of the earliest critics of Malthusian theory was Karl Marx who referred ( in Capital , see Marx 's footnote on Malthus from Capital - a reference below ) to it as `` nothing more than a schoolboyish , superficial plagiary of De Foe , Sir James Steuart , Townsend , Franklin , Wallace '' .