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As the war drew to an end, most economists and New Deal policy makers assumed that without continued massive government spending, the pre-war Great Depression and its huge unemployment would return. The economist [[Paul Samuelson]] warned that unless government took immediate action, "there would be ushered in the greatest period of unemployment and industrial dislocation which any economy has faced." The prevailing [[Keynesian]] economic wisdom predicted economic disaster when the war ended.<ref name="Herman, Arthur pp. 338-9">Herman, Arthur. ''Freedom's Forge: How American Business Produced Victory in World War II,'' pp. 338-9, Random House, New York, NY, 2012. {{ISBN|978-1-4000-6964-4}}.</ref><ref name="Parker, Dana T. pp. 131-2">Parker, Dana T. ''Building Victory: Aircraft Manufacturing in the Los Angeles Area in World War II,'' pp. 131-2, Cypress, CA, 2013. {{ISBN|978-0-9897906-0-4}}.</ref>
Sloan, though, felt otherwise and predicted a post-war boom. He pointed to workers' savings and pent-up demand, and predicted a huge jump in national income and a rise in standard of living. He was right, and the New Dealers were wrong.<ref name="Herman, Arthur pp. 338-9"/><ref name="Parker, Dana T. pp. 131-2"/> Despite a precipitous cut-back in government spending and the wholesale closure of defense plants, the economy boomed. One of the greatest periods of economic expansion in American history resulted.<ref name="Herman, Arthur pp. 338-9"/><ref name="Parker, Dana T. pp. 131-2"/>
== See also ==
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