Human Aspects of the Transition From War to Peace

*Director, Bureau of Employment Security. The author wishes to acknowledge his indebtedness to W. S. Woytinsky, Principal Consulting Economist of the Bureau of Employment Security, for various estimates used in the discussions of labor mobilization and post-war readjustment. THE PRODUCTIVITY OF the American economy in wartime has been astonishing. We have raised and equipped an immense army, built and manned the world's greatest navy, created an air corps which encompasses the earth; we have supplied munitions of war to the armed forces of our Allies in all parts of the globe; we have built a vast merchant marine to carry our goods to all countries in the world; and we have supplied industrial equipment, food, and other supplies to improve the war output of our Allies. Yet, in spite of all these things, we have not, as a people, suffered severe hardships through a shortage of consumer goods. I t is true that we cannot now buy new automobiles, new radios, new tires, and many other kinds of commodities; but we have maintained a reasonably satisfactory output of current consumer goods even at the peak of war production. The American people as a whole are eating more and better food than before the war, buying more clothes, and living better generally. This war has demonstrated as nothing else could how much idle and unused productive power there was in the American economy during the depression of the 1930's. The basic economic problem which faces the American people is whether we can capture for the post-war world the high productivity of the war. How did we achieve our present high productivity? Spectacular industrial processes which have increased output with decreased time and effort have been brought to public attention. The creative genius of the inventor, the ingenuity of the businessman, and the skill and effort of the American worker have been combined as never before in the attainment of the maximum possible national output of goods and services. Yet these striking individual illustrations have served to obscure somewhat the more basic reasons for our success. I t is the tried and established methods of the average business firm which have brought forth these spectacular results in wartime. We are producing what we are today because we have put capital and labor to work as we did not do before.