Synopses & Reviews
Military power needs to be financed and economic development is often shaped by military conflict, thus the interaction of military and economy, power and money is central to the modern world. This book provides an accessible introduction to the economics of the use of organised force, with a wide range of historical and current examples.
Synopsis
Military power and conflict have fuelled economic growth throughout history. Money matters to the military; it is needed to finance war and the desire to acquire it is often the motive for fighting. This book examines the interaction of economics and conflict, it explains the economic concepts used, and illustrates them with a range of military examples, both contemporary and historical. Among the many links explored lies the undeniable fact that fighting and finance are often both driven by the same basic human motives, fear and greed.
'Military Economics' draws on technical literature to provide an accessible introduction to: security, military expenditures, the arms industry, military operations and the economic consequences of defence spending. It raises current debates about the optimal size of the defence budget and examines how it is used to acquire forces, troops and weapons. The book examines how these forces are used to provide maximum military capability, and the potential to prevail in combat. Economic issues are central to the preparation for war, which involves balancing resources and commitments. By exploring the interaction between the military and economy, power and money, Ron Smith provides an insightful contribution to military planning, which becomes essential to the modern world. This book will be indispensable reading for all interested in defence economics, war studies and peace studies.
About the Author
RON SMITH is Professor of Applied Economics at Birkbeck, UK where he teaches econometrics and statistics. He has written extensively on applied econometrics and defence economics and is on the editorial boards of
Defence and Peace Economics and the
Journal of Peace Research and is an Associate Fellow of the Royal United Services Institute.
Table of Contents
INTRODUCTION * Economics * The Military * Values * Facts * Theories * POWER AND MONEY * Producing Security * Militarism * Economic Concepts * Uncertainty * Economic-Security interactions * SECURITY: ARE WE SAFE? * Individual Security * National Security *
Global Security * War * Oil * Arms Races and Arms Control * MILITARY SPENDING: HOW MUCH IS ENOUGH? * Measures of military Expenditure * Motives for arming * Economic Functions of US military spending * Hard Choices: UK and France * An arms race: India and Pakistan * Military Prices * Military Balance Sheets * FORCE ACQUISITION I, DEMAND: THE BIGGEST BANG FOR A BUCK? * Labour * Weapons Procurement * Technology * FORCE ACQUISITION II, SUPPLY: THE MERCHANTS OF DEATH? * The Arms Industry * Evolution of the arms trade * Regulation * MILITARY CAPABILITY: HOW TO WIN? * Force employment
* Morale * Logistics * Peacekeeping * ECONOMIC CHOICES: SWORDS OR PLOWSHARES? * Budget Constraints * Economic Effects * Technological Spin-off * Economic Warfare * UNDERSTANDING MILITARY ECONOMICS * Acknowledgements, Abbreviations, References, Index