"The Reality of the Wartime Economy" is Now Published and Online

Steven Horwitz

The new issue of The Independent Review is out and the cover article is my paper co-authored with my former student Mike McPhillips on the wartime economy during World War II:  "The Reality of the Wartime Economy: More Historical Evidence on Whether World War II Ended the Great Depression." We present archival evidence to back up Bob Higgs's work arguing that the war did not end the Great Depression.  You may recall my discussing and early draft here. Here's the abstract:

The notion that World War II is responsible for ending the Great Depression has met growing skepticism among economic historians. Although the wartime economy saw increases in conventional measures of macroeconomic performance, the letters, journals, and newspapers of the era indicate years of continued material deprivation and hardship, rather than rising living standards for the average American.

Comments

[Ed Rector]

So what did end the Great Depression?

Or maybe it is still going on.