U.s. Gross Domestic Product

Harold G. Vatter, The U.S. Economy in World War II (Columbia University Press, 1995), http://www.questia.com/read/27419298.

On the heels of war, new technology caused a decrease in prices of goods in the 1920’s and in the 1950’s the GI Bill increased

However, in the 1960s, prosperity was becoming too far out of reach. The Cold War and the Korean War were very costly in military spending. It had taken its toll on the economy. Even with more people buying, the economy was growing at a very slow rate. There were also millions of Americans who were still living in poverty, and the economy had gone into recession quite a few times in the 60s. Then, the stock market fell dramatically, the worst it had been since the Depression. Kennedy addressed this by making tax cuts for larger business, which helped the economy develop and grow more prosperous in the years to come. However, inflation made a reappearance

The economy was in trouble because the United States had poured in some 168 billion into the war. During 1962- 1965 there was low inflation, almost full employment, and a favorable balance of trade. President Johnson declared a “War on Poverty” through his “Great Society” programs while escalating the war in Vietnam at the same time. However, his decision to finance both “guns and butter” – a major war and the Great Society simultaneously, without a significant increase in taxes unleashed an acceleration of inflation, when Nixon came into office. Although the real reason for inflation was the high military spending for the Vietnam war, the stall of economic growth had produced a more important matter, economic recession, and high unemployment. Though he did act upon them, his policy

The society in the United States and Western culture tends to be more conservative during the peace time and long time prosperity. The American faced problems with spread of communism in South-east Asia, which resulted in the Vietnam War. The war brought many government experiments with the economy, such as overheating the economy and high inflation due to the Golden Standard. Economics as a fiend of study introduced the new way of policy-making - the free market with minimal government interventions. This trend was followed especially by president Reagan, when his administration reduced taxation, government spending, and regulations.

After coming out of the Great Depression the United States could not afford to be in anymore debt. From purchasing guns, ammunitions, aircrafts, and warships, the debt was rising dramatically. While the American public supported the troops, the cost of the war would affect America for years to come.

In comparison to during WWII, the cold war played a major part in changing the basics of the economy and the government. The economy boomed due to the baby boom and the change in transportation in society. The government of the cold war was affected by events such as the civil rights movement and the red scare. The economy in WWII was solely booming due to the war, but during the cold war, it was pushed by poth post war industry and other reasons.

Throughout the next decade, the expenditures gradually incremented up to the point of $12 billion in 1941, almost four times the amount from 1929 (Document 16). This increased government spending would have been fine if it aided in government revenue and decreased public debt. However, neither of those categories improved; the excessive spending actually harmed the economy. The U.S. went from a $75 million surplus in 1929 to a $4.8 billion deficit in 1941 (Document 17). Furthermore, the total public debt augmented from $17 billion in 1929 to $44 billion in 1941 (Document 18). The cost to fund the New Deal project was massive. Not only did U.S. deficits and expenditures rise, the citizens who were supposed to benefit from the deal also suffered from increased debt.

As Reagan slashed spending in his first term on programs such as food stamps and subsidized housing, the poverty rate climbed from 12% to 15% and unemployment rose from 7% to 11%.Reagan pledged during his 1980 campaign for president to balance the federal budget, but never submitted a balanced budget in his eight years in office. In 1981, the deficit was $79 billion and, in 1986, at the peak of his deficit spending, it stood at $221 billion. The federal debt was $994 billion when he took office in 1981 and grew to $2.9 trillion when his second term ended in 1989. US imports that were subject to some form of trade restraint increased from 12% in 1980 to 23% in 1988.Reagan's "voodoo" economic policy, where tax cuts were believed to somehow generate tax revenues, failed to account for his administration's excessive spending which increased from $591 billion in 1980 to $1.2 trillion in 1990. Reagan both increased and cut taxes. In 1980, middle-income families with children paid 8.2% in income taxes and 9.5% in payroll taxes. By 1988 their income tax was down to 6.6%, but payroll tax was up to 11.8%, a combined increase in taxes.Reagan pushed through a Social Security tax increases of $165 billion over seven years.The problem with judging Reagan’s economic policy is people associate the economy with President's terms and policies. In this case the two biggest causes of the 1970's early

If the emotional effects of the war were not enough, the war also hit the US economy. All wars throughout history have had a transformative effect on the economies of the participating nations. The Vietnam War severely impacted the United States’ economy due to the amount of product that the war required. A factory that would normally produce a consumer good would instead be used to produce bullets, uniforms, artillery, etc. all for the war effort. The GDP of the United States was altered from it's growing state in the early 60’s. The change in factory production from consumer goods to military goods caused controversy in the eyes of the people over the government’s use of economic policy. Money was going out, but no money was coming in. The US progressively saw more and more change to its economy. War brings on, debt and bills in large

At the end of World War II the United States economy improved greatly because more and more people were considered middle class and the United States affirmed itself as the richest country in the world. Companies were growing larger and demand increased as more and more people came to the U.S. During the first decade after the war people taxes increased to 88% and stayed at that level until 1963 when the taxes payed off the war debt. With the collapse of the Bretton woods system the golden age after World War 2 came to an end in 1971. The president dropped the taxes to 70% which gave people more money than they had before and increased their spending and their overall way of life became more expensive to maintain. And around this time Reagan was president and his economic policies caused America’s middle class to stagnate and he also increased the debt of the

The American economy flourished after World War I. The United States was involved in the war as part of the Allied Powers, and continued to have economic links with their allies, especially Great Britain. Their success in the war made it possible for American soldiers to return back home in 1919 to an economic boom (Baughman 197). Part of this economic boom was due to wartime production. During the war, the petroleum and steel industries were revived and new industries like plastic and rayon production were created. Additionally, more money was spent on technological advancements and making workers more productive, which led to higher wages and more disposable income (Feldmeth).

However, during the post war era, and particularly in the 1960s the US was spending vast sums of money on warfare (Cold war, Vietnam War), and on improved welfare. The US was financing

In fact, the United States had enjoyed an extended period of economic expansion during the war, and following the war the U.S. economy continued with great strength for more than a decade. Life in America, consequently, was arguably better than it had ever been. The middle class had swelled, unemployment rates were some of the lowest in history, and the “American Dream” was for many families a reality.

The decaying state of the American economy and the onset of the Great Depression in the 1930s brought about the necessity for the United States to reconsider its attitudes and examine the long term effects of its policies concerning wide-scale socioeconomic problems that were constantly growing bigger. The Great Depression led to the creation of many new and innovative government policies and programs, along with revisions to older economic systems. However, these cost the government billions of dollars in a country that had consistently been stretching the gap between the rich and poor. This continued as the Great Depression began to change everything people had grown old knowing,