Thread by @rgunns

hello buds! it's time for our next session of "debunking myths about the #GreenNewDeal." today we're gonna talk about how WWII mobiliization REALLY went down b/c i've been seeing a lot of folks claiming that the GND will be centrally planned like WWII.

as per us, this is not true. BUT telling you exactly why would take lots of time. (WWII mobilization was a wild ride, y'all.) i'm gonna summarize all i can, but if you have questions, let me know! (i'm no WWII historian, but i'll do my best.) 3/

so if you're riding, all aboard the train to the truth*! let's CHOO CHOOs to clarity, sweet baby angels.

*better, more nuanced understanding of the best historical precedent for the type of economic mobilization proposed by GND. 4/

first stop: WAS THE WWII ECONOMY CENTRALLY PLANNED OR NAH. A: mostly, no.

now, the federal government did play more of a leading role in the wartime economy than we are used to (esp. post-Reagan). but it did not centrally plan all (or even most) facets of the economy. 5/

you know how people like to talk about how the big auto manufacturers stopped producing cars and started producing planes and tanks? With the exception of Chrysler, that only happened in 1942 AFTER Pearl Harbor. the feds had been planning and mobilizing for WWII since 1938. 6/

even when private companies did become involved, it was as part of a public-private partnership based on contracting and procurement agreements. unlike WWI where the govt. owned and operated its own factories, WWII relied on GOCO: gov't owned, contractor-operated facilities. 7/

in GOCO arrangements, the feds built the factory and purchased the equipment and then contracted private companies to run the plants. companies were paid a fee for running the plant plus operating costs PLUS a guaranteed profit negotiated at the time of the contract. 8/

and the military only built GOCO plants when 1) no existing factories could produce what was needed and/or 2) producing what was needed would introduce production problems that existing facilities could not handle, even if adapted (usually using tax credits or federal loans.) 9/

now, did the feds direct companies and factories to produce certain goods? yes.

did the feds manage industrial supply chains? yes (but only to ensure that factories had the materials they needed.)

but was private industry at the table helping to make these decisions? 10/

civilian boards – usually filled with prominent businessmen – helped site new plants and acted as the chief regulators in deciding how to distribute key materials. local business leaders collabed with the military to assess local production capacities and create contracts. 11/

and the illest part of it all? the feds invested $20 BILLION into new production facilities – 2x more than private industry invested. (and the investments private industry made were financed by new tax incentives and fed loans.) 12/

below is a list of the 25 most expensive production facilities built during WWI, with the amount of public and private money invested.

SPOILER ALERT THERE ARE A LOT OF ZEROS IN THE PRIVATE COLUMN. 13/

and you know what happened after WWII ended? the U.S. government either sold the facilities to private companies or placed them on reserve. AND it gave businesses a tax break to help them convert to the post-war economy!

SOUNDS LIKE SOCIALISM TO ME. 14/

now, were all of these developments good? not necessarily. (the privatization of all of those facilities was probs the start of the military-industrial complex 😬) but they were not part and parcel of a centrally planned economy either. 15/

WWII would have failed if not for the collaboration between the public + the private. but in an economic moment where gov't is not supposed to do anything other than prevent market failures, any expansion of govt power can be painted as "central planning." it's not. 16/

innovation needs a direction. and it's ok for the gov't to provide that direction, esp. in times of rapid transition. and it is possible to provide that direction without gutting the private sector AND while creating jobs.

we did it before. we can do it again. 17/

for folks who are interested: i got my info from destructive creation, various academic papers, and official records of military history called the green books.

i did the latter because i, a huge nerd, got FRUSTRATED by the lack of information about the STRUCTURE and *ADMINISTRATION* of the WWII industrial mobilizations in MODERN ANALYSES, WITH THE EXCEPTION OF EXHAUSTIVE HISTORICAL ACCOUNTS –

whew. sorry. still a sensitive subject.

now that i've got that off my chest, happy to talk or answer questions!

*shimmies down your timeline*