30 April 2009 Bledisloe Medal recipient defends globalisation

Emeritus Professor of Agricultural Economics Bruce Ross is the latest recipient of Lincoln University's prestigious Bledisloe medal, instituted in 1930 for outstanding personal contributions advancing New Zealand's interests.

Professor Ross was head of Lincoln College/Lincoln University for 11 years and was the institution's foundation Vice-Chancellor.  In 1996 he was appointed Director-General of Agriculture, a post he held until 2001.

In his career as an agricultural economist Professor Ross filled numerous influential roles. For two years in the mid-1980s he was Head of the Trade Analysis Division of the Agricultural Directorate of the Organisation for Economic Co-operation and Development (OECD) in Paris.

A highlight of Professor Ross' work with the OECD was the success of getting agriculture on to the agenda for the Uruguay Round of the GATT negotiations, which began in 1986. This meant that agricultural protectionism could be challenged for the first time within the GATT forum, and it was a link in the chain which ultimately led to an annual benefit to the New Zealand economy of more than a billion dollars.

In his Bledisloe Medal acceptance speech at the Lincoln University Graduation Ceremony, in Christchurch Town Hall on 24 April 2009,  Professor Ross defended globalisation. The following is an extract from his address: 

“My work at the OECD, like some of my other work, was aimed at increasing international trade and globalisation.  Given the bad press globalisation is currently receiving in some quarters, in light of the global financial crisis, perhaps some defence of globalisation is called for.  This is not the place, nor do I have the time now for a full defence, but I do want to make a few comments.

“In the years since the Second World War, hundreds of millions, in fact billions, of people have been lifted out of poverty - more people and faster than at any other time in history.  This wonderful development has been made possible largely through economic growth stimulated by an enormous growth in world trade.  This remarkable achievement must not be overlooked as we search for ways out of the present situation, and we can be thankful that world leaders are paying at least lip-service to the notion that protecting local markets will not provide a useful way forward.

“We don't completely trash our car when we get a puncture or even a gearbox problem; neither should we try to discard the entire international trade and financial system because of what, in the context of the achievements of the last few decades, is a hiccup, even if a major one.  We know basically what went wrong  -   unbalanced economies with huge balance of payments surpluses or deficits; excess credit in some countries from the reinvestment of surpluses by China and the oil-rich countries; slack regulation of the financial system in some countries; greed and the perceived need for short-term profits, especially on Wall Street; slack evaluations by private sector rating agencies; and the separation of investment decision-making from the people bearing the investment risk.

Knowing this, it is possible to devise ways of preventing such a crash in the future, while  we also work on unwinding the present debacle.

“I hope our leaders have the foresight to see the present situation as an opportunity for them to tweak the international trade and financial system to make it more sustainable, both financially and environmentally.  If they do, globalisation can become once again the force for good it has been over recent decades.”