Military expenditure in third world countries: The economic effects Saadet Deger Routledge & Kegan Paul, London, for the International Library of Economics, 1986, 281 pp.
| Author | H. P. Hall |
| Published date | 01 July 1987 |
| Date | 01 July 1987 |
| DOI | http://doi.org/10.1002/pad.4230070308 |
PUBLIC
ADMINISTRATION AND DEVELOPMENT,
Vol.
7,
331-332
(1987)
Book
Reviews
MILITARY EXPENDITURE
IN
THIRD WORLD COUNTRIES: THE ECONOMIC
EFFECTS
Saadet
Deger
Routledge
&
Kegan Paul, London, for the International Library
of
Economics, 1986,
281 pp.
Saadet Deger is an Economic and Social Science Research Council post-doctoral Fellow
at Birbeck College, University
of
London. She has been at Birbeck for a number of years,
researching military expenditure. This book is principally addressed to economists and
political scientists and analyses the economic effects
of
military expenditure
in
less
developed countries (LDC). Between 1955 and 1975 military spending
in
LDCs increased
at an average annual rate
of
10 per cent compared with a world increase of only 2.7 per
cent and a NATO increase of
1
per cent. Between 1952 and 1983 the Middle East multiplied
its real military spending 56.4 times, Africa (excluding Egypt) 29.7 times, South Asia four
times and South America about five times.
Of 114 developing countries, 56 have some form
of
military control and the military
burden-the share
of
defence expenditure
in
national output-is high. Middle East 1..9
per cent, South Asia 2.9 per cent, Far East 3.2 per cent, Africa 3.2 per cent, and Latin
America 1.2 per cent. Between two-thirds and three-quarters
of
all global exports
of
major
arms find their way to the Third World.
The book focuses on the economic dimensions
of
military expenditure and its direct and
indirect effects on a developing economy. It also brings out the difficulties involved
in
quantifying military expenditure and its allocation between military forces and industry. It
brings out that higher military spending does have some economic benefits and industrial
spin-offs, but the negative effects far outweigh the positive ones and can depress growth
and constrain development.
The book includes an econometric evaluation of the relationships betwen security-related
expenditure and economic growth and development, which concludes that taking both
direct and indirect effects together, an increase
in
the military burden reduces the growth
rate for empirical estimates over a large cross-section
of
the LDCs.
H.
P.
HALL
Royal Institute
of
Public Administration
POVERTY AND HUNGER
A
World Bank Policy Study
The World Bank. 1818 H Street NW, Washington DC, USA, 96 pp.
Recent media coverage of discussing famine conditions has reminded many in politics and
administration that some
700
million people are seriously short
of
food, and are therefore
unable to live an active life and cannot contribute to economic development. Two-thirds
of
these people are
in
South East Asia and one-fifth struggle to exist in Sub-Sahara Africa.
This study, prepared by Shlomo Reutlinger and Jack van Holst Pellekaan, emphasizes
that economic growth and food security can only be achieved slowly, and demands balanced
0
1987 by John Wiley
&
Sons, Ltd.
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