Post WW-II Economic Conditions

Post WW-II Economic Conditions

Post WW-II Economic Conditions

The Second World War is said to be the war of all major powers of the 20th Century and is the largest and costliest conflict in human history ever. It was the only war in which both atomic (from the U.S. to Japan), as well as biological and chemical weapons (both mainly from Japan to China) were used. Apart from major death history of the Second World War, it also brought changes to the economies of different countries. Below are the details of economic conditions and situations of United States, Great Britain, Germany and Soviet Union.

United States

It was expected that the end of World War II will lead towards the conditions of Great Depression in the United States. But the reverse scenario was observed. The production of automobiles observed growth patterns, and the newly born industries of aviation and electronics grew by enormous rate. The expansion pattern was also supported by the “housing boom” in which reasonable mortgages were provided to the military personnel returning from different parts of the world. The Gross National Product of U.S. was increased to $300,000 million in 1950 as compared to $200,000 million in 1940. It is also important to mention that the consumer base was increased in United States due to the jump in births after World War II. These births are referred as “Baby Boom”. It was also realized after the war that there should be restructuring in the international monetary arrangements, which lead to the formation of IMF and World Bank. The purpose of forming these two was to make sure the capitalist worldwide economy. The number of shopping centers was increased to 3840 in 1960 as compared to only eighth at the end of World War II (Graham, 1993).

Great Britain

According ...