Ronald Tress Memorial Lecture 2012
Professor Ron Smith delivered the inaugural Ronald Tress Memorial...
Military Economics: defence choices for the UK
On Thursday 29 March, Professor Ron Smith delivered the inaugural Ronald Tress Memorial Lecture on Military Economics: defence choices for the UK at Birkbeck, University of London. This lecture marked the 40th anniversary of the establishment of the Birkbeck Economics Department by Ronald Tress (1915-2006), an eminent economist who was Master of Birkbeck from 1968 to 1977.
Over 150 of Professor Smith’s current and past students attended the lecture, to hear the story of British defence policy since 1945, which has been one of unplanned imbalances between resources, capabilities and commitments, temporarily resolved by intermittent defence reviews. Professor Smith explained that these defence reviews, usually at times of economic crisis, cut capabilities but did not resolve the underlying contradictions and that the Ministry of Defence (MOD) has been repeatedly subject to criticism for its poor financial planning, most recently in Lord Levene’s 2011 report on Defence Reform, which noted MOD’s inability to take tough, timely decisions to ensure financial control, its lack of financial skills and a lack of financial rigour throughout the organisation.
Professor Smith explained the structure of UK defence decision-making and the difficult choices now facing the MOD. After an exploration of the incentives faced by the various groups involved in defence policy decisions (politicians, civil servants, military and industry), he suggested that despite the MOD’s promise in a recent White Paper to publish a sustainable 10 year budget for the equipment plan, given the incentives on the actors, long-term planning is likely to remain an aspiration rather than a reality.
Professor Philip Powell, Executive Dean of the School of Business, Economics and Informatics said: “Professor Smith is one of the few UK academics working on military economics and the number of alumni who came to hear him tonight is testament to the very high regard in which they hold Ron. We are delighted that we have had this opportunity to celebrate 40 years since Ronald Tress established Birkbeck’s Department of Economics, and Professor Smith’s contribution to the development of the Department during his 35 years at Birkbeck – so far.”
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