World War II dramatically equalized American wealth and income

Evidence

Materially, the combination of plentiful work in war industries, unionization, high taxes, rationing, and perhaps other factors meant that World War II (coupled to some extent with the prior Great Depression) was probably the most leveling event in American economic history. The fraction of all personal wealth held by the top 1 percent of adults fell from 31 percent in 1939 to 23 percent in 1945, and the share of income received by the top 5 percent fell from 28 percent to 19 percent. — Robert D. Putnam, Bowling Alone The Collapse and Revival…, 939

Categorization

• XREF: Connects to the general theme of war as social leveler — echoes Piketty-style inequality data and the contrast with Vietnam-era inequality. — connects to: The war economy handed Big Business guaranteed profits and immunity from competition — Yanis Varoufakis, Technofeudalism: What Killed Capitalism, 141; Postwar British workers commanded a historically unprecedented share of national income — Clara E. Mattei, The Capital Order: How Economists…, 1485; Workers’ wartime indispensability empowered postwar demands to transform the economic system — Clara E. Mattei, Escape from Capitalism: An Intervention, 174 (+2 more)

Broader Connections

• Workers’ wartime indispensability empowered postwar demands to transform the economic system #expands (0.80) — Clara E. Mattei, Escape from Capitalism, 174
• World War II resolved the Depression-era demand problem and launched American Fordist expansion #expands (0.78) — Aijaz Ahmad, In Theory, 37
• The war economy handed Big Business guaranteed profits and immunity from competition #complicates (0.75) — Yanis Varoufakis, Technofeudalism, 141
• Postwar British workers commanded a historically unprecedented share of national income #expands (0.72) — Clara E. Mattei, The Capital Order, 1485