On top of that most of our auto factories got converted to producing tanks, the scale of that war is truly mind boggling by todays standards.
Just 2 cents: Not really "borrowing" per se! Any government can print money! A good and strong government (like the US) knows how to control the printing amount! Whereas the poor and weak ones just can't!
The consequences of borrowing tons of money to support a war is that you go broke and lose your empire. Ask the British about this after WW2.
Just 2 cents: I could be very wrong, but as a matter of facts, I can see some countries like Germany, Japan, UK and the US were progressing and developing in very good shape after the WW2 (Less than 4 years for the US direct involvement.) , economically and politically. However, other wars such as the recent Iraq war alone could cause great harms impacting to many countries including Iraq and the US, at least economically. Why? Timing! Whether the stockpile of weapons being high or low! And whether a particular war can be finished on time by using up existing stockpile of weapons that were bought by previous governments consecutively as already recorded as written-off expenditures - with zero book value. Without the need of spending a great deal of new money to acquire fresh stock of weapons. Iraq war was an overrun (from 2003 to 2011)! I would say! Government accounting can be a very tricky thing/animal!
yes, that is my question. Why was money so tight when it came to helping to poor, and then suddenly bled from every vein when it came to fighting a war?