tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-6568915967186844196.post170392073285068606..comments2024-03-26T14:19:33.332-07:00Comments on Bench Grass: Postblogging January 194Q: A Not-At-All Technical Appendix to "Postblogging January 1944, I"Erik Lundhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/05728486209757153685noreply@blogger.comBlogger2125tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-6568915967186844196.post-88996694995419042282014-02-07T12:16:48.773-08:002014-02-07T12:16:48.773-08:00Also, too. See the current edit.Also, too. See the current edit.Erik Lundhttps://www.blogger.com/profile/05728486209757153685noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-6568915967186844196.post-53065405756283897702014-02-06T21:58:04.267-08:002014-02-06T21:58:04.267-08:00Let's see here. From looking at my notes from ...Let's see here. From looking at my notes from Harrison, ed. The Economics of World War Two, I don't see anything supporting that directly. I do see the following things that relate: Real US Civilian GNP in 1944 was actually only slightly below that of 1939 (which is why so many American civilians remember the war fondly). In 1948 the US produced about as much munitions as 1941 with VASTLY more civilian production. <br /><br />Where did the production come from? average work hours increased in 1944 but only slightly (up about 7% from 12/41- 43.9 hours to 47 hours) but not even to their pre-Great Depression peak (1929 was 48 hours/week) and returned to antebellum levels when the war ended. One big improvement were that all the people who had been doing low wage, low productivity agriculture who had moved to Detroit, Ohio, or Southern California for high paying, productive factory jobs stayed in those areas doing highly productive, well paying things after the war. <br /><br />Another was a large increase in the workforce. The author of the chapter on the US reckoned that 40% of the labor force gain in 1948 was decreased unemployment, 30% was an extra 5 million women workers, and 30% was an extra 5 million male workers versus 1939. (Some of those men would have been discouraged pre-1939 workers, but also people doing CCC, WPA, etc. were counted as unemployed, so it probably balances out.)<br /><br />I suspect that some combination of soft skills learned in the wartime factories, improved organization and bureaucracy, and improved technology (again both soft and hard) are responsible for the improvements. ChrisMhttps://www.blogger.com/profile/06264355590211481637noreply@blogger.com