What got us out of The Great Depression?

[mconder]

I got into an argument with friends about what it was that ended The Great Depression. Of course, they think it was the war that got us out. I asked them how it is that war, which is essentially destructive, could be responsible for leading us into an age of unprecedented prosperity. In my mind, only productivity can create prosperity. Could it have been that women entered the workforce for the first time in mass? Does anyone have any good material on this...like a YouTube or Google video I can send them?

 

[acptulsa]

1946 was not a good financial year for the U.S. If the war was particularly good for our economy, it was through the Marshall Plan, not through the destruction.

 

[tmosley]

The war forced FDR to stop meddling in business, allowing production to resume. People had just been holding onto their money prior to that (thus deflation), waiting for a more business friendly environment to come about.

 

[axiomata]

Time and war exports.

 

[danberkeley]

I dont mean to sound like an asshole, but this question has been asked and answered many time on this forum.

 

[weslinder]

Orders for War Goods from Europe - paid for with their gold reserves.

 

[acptulsa]

And if the war itself was responsible for the lower unemployment rate of 1948, it isn't too hard to see how. Those lying dead near Anzio and Iwo didn't exactly factor into the unemployment figures...

 

[danberkeley]

Orders for War Goods from Europe - paid for with their gold reserves.

Killing hundreds of thousands of highly productive men also reduced the unemployment rate.

 

[gaazn]

War got us out of the Great Depression. War destroyed a lot of the capacity for the industrialized nations of Germany, Japan, France and others, and destroyed their ability to compete in the market. With fewer competitors, USA gets all the business. The USA industry was virtually untouched by the war, so we were able to export goods and services to help rebuild Europe and Asia. Now, if we were bombed and destroyed like Europe or Asia, it would have been a different story.

 

[LibertyBrews]

So, we need a new war, World War 3, Obama's gift to us.

 

[gaazn]

So, we need a new war, World War 3, Obama's gift to us.

Yes and it can't be a weak war, like the War on Drugs, War on Terror, or Kosovo, or Iraq. We actually have to bomb and destroy the other countries. The neocons might be on to something...

 

[danberkeley]

Yes and it can't be a weak war, like the War on Drugs, War on Terror, or Kosovo, or Iraq. We actually have to bomb and destroy the other countries. The neocons might be on to something...

Exactly. They gotta at least nuke Iran.

 

[Goldenboy219]

War got us out of the Great Depression. War destroyed a lot of the capacity for the industrialized nations of Germany, Japan, France and others, and destroyed their ability to compete in the market. With fewer competitors, USA gets all the business. The USA industry was virtually untouched by the war, so we were able to export goods and services to help rebuild Europe and Asia. Now, if we were bombed and destroyed like Europe or Asia, it would have been a different story.

Awesome post!

Also, DanB pointed out that 400,000 potential workers were lost...

 

[hugolp]

War got us out of the Great Depression. War destroyed a lot of the capacity for the industrialized nations of Germany, Japan, France and others, and destroyed their ability to compete in the market. With fewer competitors, USA gets all the business. The USA industry was virtually untouched by the war, so we were able to export goods and services to help rebuild Europe and Asia. Now, if we were bombed and destroyed like Europe or Asia, it would have been a different story.

Exactly. I think this was the bigger factor in the USA getting out of the depresion and becoming the world leader. The rest of the world was suffering the war destruction.

Hugo