USA HISTORY

AMERICAN IMPERIALISM(1890 1919)

THE UNITED STATES IN WORLD WAR I

[SOURCES]
How did World War II affect the U.S. economy?

(A) It helped reduce the number of specialized services

(B) It decreased the number of labor unions in manufacturing industries

(C) ** It helped stimulate a financial market suffering from depression

(D) It increased demand for consumer products in the market

EXPLANATIONS BELOW

Concept note-1: -World War II was financed through debt and higher taxes, by the end of the war, U.S. gross debt was over 120% of GDP and tax revenue increased more than three times to over 20% of GDP. Although GDP growth skyrocketed to over 17% in 1942, both consumption and investment experienced a substantial contraction.

Concept note-2: -The war brought full employment and a fairer distribution of income. Blacks and women entered the workforce for the first time. Wages increased; so did savings. The war brought the consolidation of union strength and far-reaching changes in agricultural life.

Concept note-3: -World War II institutionalized the falling standards of living of the Depression through wage and price controls, and extensive rationing of consumer goods and services. The economic deprivation, and reduced standards of living, continued, although people perceived it was now for a good cause.

Concept note-4: -Driven by growing consumer demand, as well as the continuing expansion of the military-industrial complex as the Cold War ramped up, the United States reached new heights of prosperity in the years after World War II.

Concept note-5: -Real GDP fell 29% from 1929 to 1933. The unemployment rate reached a peak of 25% in 1933. Consumer prices fell 25%; wholesale prices plummeted 32%. Some 7, 000 banks, nearly a third of the banking system, failed between 1930 and 1933.