Becoming the Arsenal

Becoming the Arsenal discusses one of the three signal events that transformed the relationship of government and the private sector in directing the American economy. The first was the Great Depression and the government's New Deal recovery program. The second was the gradual abandonment of the monetary Gold Standard, or the "floating" of the dollar between 1933 and the 1970s. Third, and least appreciated, was the mobilization of the American economy to confront the threat of the Axis ascendancy in World War II. Becoming the Arsenal places the events of this economic mobilization in its political-economic context and evaluates its performance in terms of prevailing military and political realities.
The book is structured in three parts. The first deals with the decision to mobilize in May-June 1940. The second part relates the importance of the World War I experience and the economic diplomatic environment of the late 1930s. The final part examines the shift from a partial mobilization to the commitment to a "Victory Plan" in the fall of 1941, and achievement of complete mobilization and its consequences, in early 1943.

Michael G. Carew teaches at Baruch College.

Chapter 1 List of Tables
Chapter 2 Preface
Part 3 PART I: THE MARCH TO WAR, 1939-41
Chapter 4 Chapter 1: Introduction
Chapter 5 Chapter 2: The Specter of World War I Industrial Mobilization
Chapter 6 Chapter 3: The Reality of the Empty Arsenal
Chapter 7 Chapter 4: Builgind and Economic-Military Consensus
Chapter 9 Chapter 5: American Economic Evolution, 1900-1950
Chapter 10 Chapter 6: World War I and Military Mobilization
Chapter 11 Chapter 7: Military Tradition and Modern War
Chapter 12 Chapter 8: Planning Industrial Mobilization, 1920-1939
Part 13 PART III: BECOMING THE ARSENAL
Chapter 14 Chapter 9: The Economic and Industrial Platform, 1941 - The General American Economy
Chapter 15 Chapter 10: The Struggle to Define Preparedness and the Victory Plan
Chapter 16 Chapter 11: The Economic Consequences of Pearl Harbor
Chapter 17 Chapter 12: The Military-Civilian Contention
Chapter 18 Chapter 13: Becoming the Arsenal
Chapter 19 Bibliography