not being destroyed from WW2 while Europe was recovering
i would argue that it was largely this, plus the states added a ridiculous amount of industrial capacity in WW2. i like to use california as my example. it was a small western state before the war. then they needed 3-5 million more people on the west coast to build warships (and support the people building warships) so california’s population nearly doubled in 20 years (per the US Census 1930: 5,677,251 people; 1940: 6,907,387 people; 1950: 10,586,223 people). I recognize my view is a touch biased because i knew a lot of people at the old submarine shipyard.
a huge victory for keynesian economics. it’s my go to example whenever monetarists start talking like they’re the only school that matters (don’t get me started they both work and have their benefits and drawbacks i was in micro and just like winding up the macro dudes).
i would argue that it was largely this, plus the states added a ridiculous amount of industrial capacity in WW2. i like to use california as my example. it was a small western state before the war. then they needed 3-5 million more people on the west coast to build warships (and support the people building warships) so california’s population nearly doubled in 20 years (per the US Census 1930: 5,677,251 people; 1940: 6,907,387 people; 1950: 10,586,223 people). I recognize my view is a touch biased because i knew a lot of people at the old submarine shipyard.
a huge victory for keynesian economics. it’s my go to example whenever monetarists start talking like they’re the only school that matters (don’t get me started they both work and have their benefits and drawbacks i was in micro and just like winding up the macro dudes).