Download Government Took Increasing Control of the Economy

The Impact of World War II on the
American Economy
Government Took Increasing
Control of the Economy
• Continued a process started during the New Deal
• U.S. gov. needed money
– Liberty bonds
– Income tax
• Withholdings system
• Needed military production
– Gov. organization (NWLB) set up to prevent strikes
• Union leaders took a ‘no strike’ pledge after Pearl Harbor
– Industries controlled to shift production from civilian to
military products
• Rationing of essential products
– Oil, meat, sugar, gas, etc.
– Americans hold ‘rubble drives’ and raise ‘Victory
Gardens’
Impact on the American Economy?
• Explosion of GDP
– Gross Domestic Product  the $ value of the
total yearly production of the country
– Ended Great Depression  lowered
unemployment
• Government Debt Increased
– Result of borrowing (Liberty Bonds)