Symposium on Alexander J. Field’s book The Economic Consequences of US Mobilization for the Second World War (New Haven

(Yale University Press, 2022)

Bibliographic Data

ID11204366
AuthorsJari Eloranta (0000-0002-8572-5902, University of Helsinki, corresponding author)
Year2025
Volume49
Issue1
Pages290-292
Publication date2025-01-01
Peer ReviewedYes
Open AccessYes
TypeARTICLE
VenueSocial Science History (JOURNAL)
Journal identifiersISSN: 0145-5532 • E-ISSN: 1527-8034
PublisherCambridge University Press (CUP) (PUBLISHER)
DOI10.1017/ssh.2025.7
OpenAlexW4407930252
LanguageEN
References cited10

Alexander J. Field's recent book (2022) offers a fresh re-examination of key aspects of the US involvement in World War II and the consequences of that engagement for long-run economic development.While focusing primarily on the supply-side context of the wartime economy, Field argues that manufacturing productivity actually declined during the war.This was due to production being shifted to industries and sectors with little or no prior experience in such manufacturing.Furthermore, Field asserts that the war interrupted the positive strides related to innovations and human capital that had been taking place before the conflict in the 1930s (for a longer review, see Eloranta 2023).This book is part of a broader crop of research on the economic history of wars in general, and of the world wars in particular.Building on earlier contributions on the history and significance of conflicts, the volume edited by Mark Harrison (Harrison 1998) on World War II, followed by a volume co-edited with Stephen Broadberry (Broadberry and Harrison 2005) on World War I, brought economic historians back to the study of world wars as extreme examples of warfare and economic dislocation.(On cliometric approaches and traditions in the study of war, see also Eloranta and Hoffman 2024).These volumes engendered renewed interest among scholars in the efficacy of economic warfare, the impact of crises, and the estimation of the war economies' performance (see also Davis and Engerman 2006).The revived focus on world wars has also yielded new insights about other conflicts and time periods, such as the Napoleonic wars, another contender for the title of "world war" (O'Brien 2021; O'Rourke 2006).The burgeoning field of the economic history of war has expanded to include many interdisciplinary themes, including state capacity formation and societal fragmentation (see e.g

Economic history · Economics · Field (mathematics · First world war · Haven · Humanities · Mobilization · Political science · World War II · Italy: Economic History and Contemporary Issues · Law · Mathematics · Philosophy