High Country Life

Conventional wisdom dictates that trade is the first casualty of war. Yet empirical data demonstrates otherwise.

State decisionmakers consider both economic and military concerns when making decisions to break trade with their enemies. One key factor is war’s expected duration: as time progresses, more products may become restricted.

Background

As America entered World War II, its economy underwent the most profound mobilization ever. Production increased dramatically, unemployment almost vanished entirely and economic output skyrocketed. To meet labor requirements manufacturers recruited women, minorities, elderly individuals as well as male workers. Labor demand also helped break down long-standing resistance against equal pay for equal work.

Families across the nation adapted to life under price controls and rationing. Citizens gathered scrap metal, paper, glass and food waste for recycling, collected pennies to buy war bonds, knitted comforts for troops overseas and even created vegetable gardens or allotments of their own – showing an incredible sense of patriotism that could only be described as infectious.

Wilson notes that World War II demonstrated that deep government involvement doesn’t necessarily equate to a command economy. Producers entered into contracts with both producers and the government for production responsibilities; profits continued to accrue and private property remained predominant; planning helped rationalize economic life more broadly by gathering much of today’s macroeconomic data for wartime planning purposes alone; while rationing and full employment served as natural inflation-control mechanisms while labor-business cooperation helped avoid disruptive strikes.

War also brought with it an incredible surge of consumer goods. Rationing controlled the purchase of meat, sugar, butter, fats and oils, vegetables, fruit, gas, clothing and gas ration stamps issued to families allowing them to exchange these stamps for food and clothing; infants were exempted from this system as were expectant mothers and their children. Many families relocated to industrial centers for jobs as part of patriotic duty while cities grew at remarkable rates; some would become so-called boom towns which expanded even more after war ended.

FDR used taxes and bond sales to finance World War II, with interest rates kept low by his control of the Federal Reserve. War production gains resulted in an astonishing 96% increase in industrial productivity and doubled corporate profits after taxes. Government investment ensured factories could obtain needed capital while FDR’s command over military production kept military production on schedule.

Getting Started

By the time America entered World War II, she held an overwhelming military advantage. This stemmed from both a highly trained army as well as massive industrial production of tanks, planes, ships and other weapons of war produced largely by civilians.

On the home front, boys as young as 16 received call-up papers to enter the military; girls were conscripted into women’s auxiliary services. Millions of Americans worked long hours under great pressure. Businesses adjusted production lines accordingly – for instance Mattatuck Manufacturing Company switched from producing upholstery nails to cartridge clips for Springfield rifles! Likewise, American factories manufactured airplanes, guns and tanks in astounding amounts as part of America’s war effort effort.

To ensure adequate supplies were on hand, the government instituted rationing to control consumption. Families were allotted their ration of meat, sugar, butter, fats, oil and gasoline as well as clothing and stamps which they could exchange at shops for these goods or use directly with private manufacturers to purchase products from private manufacturers. Patriotic posters promoted this program and encouraged Americans to “Do with Less”, “Dig for Victory” and “Do Your Bit.”

Although war was difficult, there were many benefits. Full employment and fairer distribution of income improved living standards. Labor unions strengthened and agricultural life changed in ways never imagined before; homes were upgraded to higher standards; 34 million households relocated at least once during the war; homes improved to new standards were constructed or upgraded as an extra asset to ensure survival of families displaced from their original locations; 34 million families found themselves having to relocate – just some examples of benefits of wartime.

This book illuminates many aspects of wartime planning that we now know, such as rationing practices and estimates of actual versus potential output, came out of intense, wartime planning. Unfortunately, Wilson didn’t take advantage of an opportunity to examine more closely how this work was completed, leaving many readers questioning whether private profits and competition were sacrificed during this process – something he might have addressed more fully later in his work.

What to Expect

World War II saw guns, bombs and airplanes as its primary weapons; however, more subtle forms of warfare fought just as hard on the home front – words, posters and films engaged with American citizens just as fiercely as bullets and planes engaged with enemies.

All aspects of life on the Home Front were altered during World War II, with everyone expected to contribute towards victory. Over two million women worked outside their homes specializing in non-traditional defense jobs; food, gas and clothing rationed; donated scrap metal used to make armaments needed for victory repurposed as “victory gardens” were donated; Americans helped pay for war by purchasing government bonds;

United States factories quickly transitioned from mass consumer production to wartime production, producing everything from ammunition and ships and aircraft parts to armored vehicles, tanks and trucks. Automakers produced armored vehicles instead of regular automobiles; Lionel toy trains produced items specifically for military use (such as compasses for warships); other businesses followed suit, such as Coca-Cola Company that switched over from producing soft drinks to providing Army hydration troops with supplies.

People had become used to living with limited supplies of everything from food and clothing, while the government encouraged conservation through slogans like, “Use it up – Wear it out – Make it do”. Children received special allocations of clothing and shoes. A rubber shortage forced speed limits and gas rationing. A synthetic rubber industry developed while people carpooled more, drove less, contributed scrap rubber for recycling purposes and contributed recycled scrap rubber scrap. Finally, to pay for war costs a federal income tax was instituted with payroll deductions taking effect through paycheck deductions from payroll deductions of paycheck deductions from paycheck deductions from paychecks of millions of Americans.

Fear of Japanese attack spread throughout America in the weeks preceding America’s entry into World War II. Once it happened, however, people were stunned but unshaken – many even becoming more determined than before to win this war against Germany and Japan.

Casualty numbers were difficult to ascertain due to various reasons, including differences between countries in their methods for counting their dead and wounded soldiers. Americans recognized that losing was costly for the US, accepting sacrifice as a necessary price for success in war.

Conclusions

As it entered World War II in December 1941, the United States faced an enormous task. Not only would it have to raise, train and outfit an impressive military force but it must also provide material aid to Great Britain and Russia who had been hit hard. American families had to make sacrifices on both ends. Millions left their regular jobs to work at defense plants that mushroomed across the nation and saw economic output skyrocket. On the domestic front, price and wage controls were implemented, leading to widespread rationing of food, gasoline, tires, nylons, clothing and nylon thread. Americans learned how to conserve resources while volunteering for roles ranging from air raid warden to Red Cross worker.

Schools were closed, churches used for military use, emergency ‘prefab’ housing was provided to families living in emergency housing and they learned how to deal with shortages in food, fuel and materials – yet despite hardships Americans were positive and hopeful.

World War II provided us with one of its key lessons: that deep government involvement does not have to imply command economy. After the war, for example, large parts of Navy shipbuilding remained private while even those areas subject to public oversight relied heavily on contracts with businesses for production – a dramatic departure from 19th-century shipyards where half the Navy ships were assembled.

After World War I, American businessmen became much more comfortable discussing with government officials the costs and benefits of particular policies. An almost-forgotten lesson of World War I is how a powerful argument from military necessity – such as when General Sherman burned Atlanta or Hitler bombed civilian centers – could overcome objections to certain policies.

Like intrinsicists, utilitarians arguing that any just cause justifies taking whatever measures necessary can also be disproved by logic and argumentation.