Business: Mobilization for World War II

Impact of War.

World War II was an event of enormous consequence for business and industry. Before the war, caught in a deflationary spiral, industry longed for customers and closed plants for lack of demand. As the 1940s began, Europeans, desperate for goods with which to wage the already-raging war, paid for millions of dollars' worth of goods. Factories reopened, and new workers were hired to meet the demand. Government programs to mobilize and supply the American military furthered the recovery. Yet the marketplace proved poorly responsive to the political and military emergency. As business recovered, for example, more and more industries devoted their production to meet increased consumer demand at the very time government officials were seeking greater military production. Shortages of raw materials were common; so too were strikes and labor disputes. All of these factors combined to retard the production necessary to...

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