Mt.Hamilton/Bastiat Society - Alex Field on Econ consequences of WW2

The Economic Consequences of U.S. Mobilization for the Second World War

Many believe that despite its destructive character, war ultimately boosts long-term economic growth. For the United States this view is often supported by appeal to the experience of the Second World War, understood as a triumph of both production and productivity. Alexander Field shows that between 1941 and 1945 manufacturing productivity actually declined, depressed by changes in the output mix and resource shocks from enemy action, including curtailed access to natural rubber and, on the Eastern Seaboard, petroleum. The war forced a shift away from producing goods in which the country had a great deal of experience toward those in which it had little.
Learning by doing was only a partial counterbalance to the intermittent idleness and input hoarding that characterized a shortage economy and dragged down productivity. The conflict distorted human and physical capital accumulation, and once it ended, America stopped producing most of the new goods. The war temporarily shut down basic scientific research and the ongoing development of civilian goods. U.S. world economic dominance in 1948, Field shows, was due less to the experience of making war goods and more to the country’s productive potential in 1941.

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Alexander Field is the Michel and Mary Orradre Professor of Economics at Santa Clara University. Over the past two decades his main research focus has been on U.S. productivity growth during the second quarter of the twentieth century. In 2011 he published A Great Leap Forward: 1930s Depression and U.S. Economic Growth(Yale), selected that year as a Choice Outstanding Economic Title in the Economics Area. In 2012 it won the Alice Hansen Jones Biennial Book Prize as well as the Alpha Sigma Nu National Book Award in the Social Sciences. His new book, The Economic Consequences of U.S. Mobilization for the Second World War was published by Yale in 2022. He has written on a wide range of other topics, including how we can better integrate the human sciences, as reflected in his 2001 book Altruistically Inclined?

The Behavioral Sciences, Evolutionary Theory, and the Origins of Reciprocity, which won the 2003 Alpha Sigma Nu National Book Award in the Social Sciences. His research has been supported by grants and fellowships from the National Science Foundation and the Institute for Advanced Study in Princeton. In 2013-14 he was a Phi Beta Kappa Visiting Scholar. He has served as Associate Editor of the Journal of Economic Literature, as Executive Director of the Economic History Association, and in a variety of other editorial and administrative capacities including Acting Academic Vice President and Acting Dean of the Business School at Santa Clara. He taught previously at Stanford University.

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Please join the Mont Hamilton/Bastiat Society in this 15th year since our founding, to hear and interact with Jack Estill on this important topic that concerns us all.

This meeting will be in-person for no more than 20 individuals only, including lunch. We think you will enjoy the intellectual stimulation, the edification, the camaraderie, and to meet new people.

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About the Mont Hamilton Society - In 1947 Friedrich Hayek, an economist and social philosopher who later won the Nobel Prize, organized a meeting at Mt. Pelerin, a resort in Switzerland. Hayek convened a modest sized group of (39) economists, historians, philosophers and journalists for the purpose of supporting research and discussion on the role of markets vs. government. The Mont Pelerin Society is now a large and prestigious international organization.

In 2009, a group of friends began to meet in San Jose for the purposes of improving their understanding of economic theory, applying it to current events and sharing their understanding with others as well as promoting a joyous sense of camaraderie. In recognition of the example set by the Mont Pelerin Society, they decided to name their group the Mont Hamilton Society. Members understand the realities of the business world, share an interest in economic thinking, and value civil discourse from a variety of perspectives. Faculty and students from the Department of Economics at San Jose State University are frequent guests at Society meetings. In June 2017 the Mont Hamilton Society became the San Jose/Silicon Valley affiliate chapter of the Bastiat Society, an AIER.org project, hence our new name: Mont Hamilton/Bastiat Society. See our webpage for more information: https://www.aier.org/bastiatsociety/san-jose

There are no membership fees or organizational meetings at this time, but all interested are encouraged to join and participate.

If you would like to be on our invitations list, or know someone else who might like to receive notice of our 7 - 10 (or more - during pre-covid years) luncheons or other events per year, or if you have any questions, please send an email to:

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You or your suggested contact(s) will receive an announcement/invitation and a reminder or two for each event as they are scheduled, or a prompt answer to your question/s.

These events are discussions, not standard lectures. To facilitate this, the in-person gatherings before Covid Lockdowns were kept "small," typically 12 - 24 individuals only. Some presentations are video recorded, depending on demand. Constructive feedback on our events and interest in recordings is welcome, since we are continuing to evolve our meeting formats.

Thank you for your interest.

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