Deck 25: World War Ii

Question 1

The drop in unemployment from over 11 percent in 1939 to roughly 1 percent in 1944

A) has been attributed by Keynesians as a validation of larger deficits as a solution to unemployment
B) has been attributed by Monetarists as a validation that a large increase in the money supply would cure the depression.
C) has been acknowledged as a success in Keynesian policies, with the caveat that inflation was only averted through price controls.
D) All of the above are correct.

Answer 1

All of the above are correct.

Question 2

What best describes real per capita GDP in the US between 1929 and 1959?

A) It was a period of consistent increase.
B) It was lower at the end of the period than the beginning because of the Great Depression.
C) Although it was erratic in the early part of this period during the Great Depression, it increased consistently after World War II.
D) It grew the most during World War II.

Answer 2

It grew the most during World War II.

Question 3

Wartime economic mobilization resulted in

A) increased hours for workers.
B) dramatic increases in the industrial accident rate.
C) some reduction in the quality of output.
D) Increased production rates.
E) All of the above.

Answer 3

All of the above.

Question 4

Which of the following is most accurate about women's involvement in the labor force?

A) Over half of the women who entered the labor force between 1940 and 1944 had dropped out by 1950.
B) Between 1940 and 1950 the number of women employed in the labor force dropped.
C) After World War II, the supply of young married women available to work increased.
D) Women made their largest gains in employment in the service and agricultural sectors.

Question 5

Which U.S. President was in office for most of World War II?

A) Herbert Hoover.
B) Abraham Lincoln.
C) Franklin D. Roosevelt.
D) Lyndon Johnson
E) Dwight Eisenhower.

Question 6

In 1940, civilian purchases of goods and services equaled roughly _____ of GDP; by 1943, this figure had changed to ________.

A) 92 percent; 50 percent.
B) 50 percent; 50 percent.
C) 25 percent; 75 percent.
D) 50 percent; 10 percent.

Question 7

Between 1940 and 1944, real Federal spending increased by roughly ____ percent.

A) 100
B) 250
C) 750
D) 1000

Question 8

Economists such as James Tobin and Paul Samuelson claimed that _________ provided solid evidence of the effectiveness of Keynesian policies.

A) increases in deficit spending accompanied by extremely low unemployment during WWII
B) increases in taxes accompanied by rising federal budget surpluses
C) increases in the money supply accompanied by falling interest rates
D) price controls accompanied by inflation

Question 9

To mobilize resources in WWII, the United States relied on

A) the same methods used in World War I
B) the draft
C) taxes
D) creating money
E) All of the above are correct.

Question 10

According to Robert Higgs,

A) World War II was a period of unique prosperity.
B) World War II was a period of continued depression that did not end until after the war.
C) measures of GDP during World War II are understated.
D) civilian consumption of most items actually rose during World War II.

Question 11

Which of the following statements about labor unions and management during the 1940s is most accurate ?

A) The real earnings of people in labor unions increased significantly during World War II.
B) During World War II there were many strikes.
C) There were few strikes during World War II because management frequently locked-out labor before the employees could strike.
D) Immediately following the end of the war was a period of significant earnings growth for labor union members.

Question 12

Forms of federal taxation used to finance the war effort did NOT include

A) the income tax.
B) the corporate tax.
C) the excess profits tax.
D) sales tax.

Question 13

What was the least important method of financing World War II?

A) tax revenues
B) borrowing from the public
C) creating new mone
D) using the draft for military purposes

Question 14

In 1940, federal government purchases of goods and services equaled roughly _____ of GDP; by 1943, this figure had risen to ________.

A) 20 percent; 30 percent
B) 8 percent; 50 percent
C) 15 percent; 20 percent
D) 1 percent; 25 percent

Question 15

The wage and price controls of the 1940s eventually led to

A) black markets.
B) "forced uptrading."
C) calls for nationalizing the nation's cattle herds.
D) All of the above are correct.

Question 16

The draft is analogous to a tax, where the amount of the tax equals

A) the discounted present value of the soldier's lost private sector income.
B) the estimated value of a human life.
C) the difference between what a soldier would need to be paid to serve voluntarily and his\her actual pay.
D) The soldier's earnings while enlisted.

Question 17

Which of the following statements is most accurate about the role of minorities in the US?

A) The armed services were desegregated before World War II.
B) Although African Americans had historically lived on agricultural areas, by 1970 about 75% of African Americans lived in urban areas.
C) During World War II, there was a large increase in demand for hiring highly skilled Japanese-Americans.

Question 18

In 1947, which of the following activities were NOT made illegal for labor unions to do?

A) Coerce employees who are working at a firm to join a union.
B) Discriminate against employees.
C) Encourage employees to engage in a strike to force one employer to cease doing business with another employer.
D) Collect membership dues.

Question 19

Which of the following were NOT related to the price controls that existed during World War II?

A) Price ceilings facilitated the formulation of black markets for automobiles.
B) A black market for meat formed, referred to as "meat-easies," due to a price ceiling on meat.
C) Price ceilings created an excess demand of consumer durable goods.
D) Despite price ceilings, hidden price increases were realized through deterioration in the quality of goods.

Question 20

The GI Bill is often credited for its

A) universal health insurance.
B) unemployment compensation program.
C) impact on the rapid growth of higher education after World War II.
D) high efficiency and lean bureaucracy.

Question 21

If supply is perfectly inelastic and demand increases,

A) price falls and output rises.
B) price rises and output falls.
C) price rises and output remains unchanged.
D) price rises and output rises.

Question 22

The use of strategic bombing by the Allies during World War II

A) caused a marked decrease in Axis munitions production.
B) caused Germany to divert significant resources to air defense.
C) used the various air forces as an aid to the ground or sea forces.
D) was intended to attack the civilian population.
E) Only b and d are correct.

Question 23

During World War II, price supports for agriculture

A) were not generally needed because of high demand.
B) were considered by Congress but never enacted.
C) were rescinded in order to encourage reductions in output.
D) led to decreases in the supply of many products.

Question 24

An economy producing at the wrong point on its production possibility frontier is ___.

A) efficient, because it is on the production possibility frontier.
B) inefficient, because the combination of goods and services produced is not what people want.
C) efficient, because the economy is producing goods at the lowest possible cost.
D) inefficient, because that combination of goods could be produced at a lower cost if more efficient technology were employed.

Question 25

What statement best describes the production and allocation of resources after the United States entered World War II?

A) Government spending as a percentage of GNP during this period never exceeded the maximum level at the height of the Depression under Roosevelt's New Deal policies.
B) Production shifted out closer to the production possibilities frontier, primarily as a result of technical change.
C) Production shifted out toward the production possibilities frontier, primarily as a result of underutilized resources being utilized.
D) Greater production of goods to support the war involved nominally higher incidents of disabling injuries in the workplace, yet not increases in the rates of disabling injuries.

Question 26

A distribution of goods is inefficient

A) only when an economy is producing inside its production possibility frontier.
B) only when an economy is producing at the wrong point on the production possibility frontier.
C) either when an economy is producing inside the production possibility frontier or when an economy is producing at the wrong point on the production possibility frontier.
D) when the economy is producing at the optimal point on the production possibility frontier.

Question 27

What best describes the changes in federal spending of the US economy from 1939 to 1949?

A) Between 1939 and 1944 military expenditures increased substantially and civilian-related expenditures remained about the same.
B) Between 1939 and 1944 both military and civilian-related expenditures increased substantially.
C) Between 1939 and 1944 the production possibilities frontier for military and civilian-related expenditures shifted out.
D) Between 1944 and 1949 military expenditures decreased substantially and civilian-related expenditures returned to 1939 levels.

Question 28

The postwar years

A) ushered in what has been described as an unthinking materialist culture.
B) ushered in what has been described as a consumer-oriented society that represented the fulfillment of the American dream.
C) featured an unusual deviation from the long-term trend toward smaller families.
D) All of the above are correct.
E) Only a and b are correct.

Question 29

When an economy is at full employment, increases in military production

A) cause a movement along the PPF.
B) cause an outward shift in the PPF.
C) mean that the economy is operating outside the PPF.
D) mean that the economy is operating inside the PPF.