Did World War II spending boost economic growth? Although some statistics appear to affirm this, wiser historical analysis demonstrates that artificial increases in output during the war masked a debilitated private economy. Meaningful growth increased after the war, when free-market mechanisms returned and marginal tax rates were reduced. Gross national product (GNP), the total value of everything produced by United States domestically or abroad, did increase during the war and trended downward as the war ended in 1945, falling considerably in 1946 and 1947. It would be shallow analysis, however, …
On this day 70 years ago, President Franklin D. Roosevelt addressed a joint session of Congress and requested a declaration of war against Japan following the devastating attack on Pearl Harbor the day before. Roosevelt’s words carried forth across the nation via radio, and the consequences of the actions America would take would be felt around the world–and across history. The lessons America learned in those fateful days should be remembered even today. Roosevelt noted that the day of Japan’s attack would be “a date which will live in infamy,” and …
The United States is a maritime nation. The military is the nation’s guarantor of freedom of the seas and protector of global sea lines of communication. The military ensures the safe transit of international commerce along trade routes that allows our local grocery store and Wal-Marts shelves to remain stocked everyday. Protection of the sea lines allows all of us to use the internet at will and on demand, as well. As Heritage highlights in “The State of the U.S. Military,” this week , the U.S. Navy’s fleet today contains …
Of all the days President Obama could have chosen to announce that the United States will abandon its plans for a missile defense site in the Czech Republic and Poland, September 17 was possibly the worst he could have chosen. As any Pole could tell you, this was the date the Soviet army invaded Poland in World War II, after Nazi Germany had launched its assault on the country on September 1. Doesn’t anyone at the State Department, the Pentagon or the National Security Council engage in cultural intelligence at …
Marking the 70th anniversary of the outbreak of World War II, President of the European Parliament Jerzy Buzek paid tribute to the European Union for making war on the Continent unthinkable and, “materially impossible.” He had a point; not that the EU was a critical instrument of peace and stability in the years following World War II, but that Europeans enjoy a quality of life unimaginable just 30 years ago, never mind 70 years ago. And he’s right that it is important to remember why. The Transatlantic relationship embodied within …
MOSCOW – The Kremlin campaign against what they describe as falsifying history is in full force with the 70th anniversaries of the Molotov-Ribbentrop Pact and the start of World War II this month. The Kremlin’s chief objective is to justify the signing of the 1939 Soviet-German nonaggression pact and to absolve Stalin’s role in Hitler’s decision to unleash WWII. This campaign is nothing more than a brazen attempt to rewrite history. All the documents have been made public and specific facts are common knowledge.
As the world marks the 90th anniversary of the end of the First World War, it seems a lifetime ago that Europe was plunged into unimaginable darkness, resulting in approximately 20 million military and civilian deaths within four short years. Yet four British veterans of World War I survive today, and three were in London to mark the special anniversary. They stand as testimony to the generation of men and women who shared their sacrifice in pursuit of freedom and liberty. More than any other countries, Britain and America know …
