Until it's over, over there: the US economy in World War I

doi:10.1017/CBO9780511497339.011

10 - Until it's over, over there: the US economy in World War I

Published online by Cambridge University Press: 23 July 2009

Hugh Rockoff

Edited by

Stephen Broadberry and

Mark Harrison

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Hugh Rockoff: Affiliation:
Professor of Economics, Rutgers University, New Brunswick, New Jersey
Stephen Broadberry: Affiliation:
University of Warwick
Mark Harrison: Affiliation:
University of Warwick

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Summary

Introduction

This chapter re-examines the financial and economic history of the United States during World War I. It focuses on economic policy: on what policy makers did, and equally important on what conclusions they drew from the short and confused experience of America's involvement in World War I. The first section, on the war boom, presents the chronology of American involvement, and contrasts the World War I expansion with previous expansions. (A list of key dates is contained in the appendix to this chapter.) The second section describes how resources were mobilised and allocated to the war sector. The third section on the financing of the war, is divided into three parts: monetary policy, fiscal policy (taxes), and debt policy. The fourth section discusses the War Industries Board and other government agencies that were charged with regulating prices and production. The fifth section discusses the production of munitions. The concluding section, on the legacies of the war for the United States is divided into three parts: the costs of the war in terms of resources, the impact of the war on the role of the United States in international capital markets, and the institutional and ideological legacies of the war.

The war boom in historical perspective

The outbreak of the war in Europe in 1914 touched off a severe financial disturbance in the United States.

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Type: Chapter
Information: The Economics of World War I , pp. 310 - 343

DOI: https://doi.org/10.1017/CBO9780511497339.011 [Opens in a new window]

Publisher: Cambridge University Press

Print publication year: 2005

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