How much defense spending during WWII was used internally by the military (i.e. salaries) and how much was used externally (paying for the manufacturing of vehicles and weapons)

by silkydangler

Title more or less says it all. Thanks in advance!

white_light-king

Analysis of WWII economics in terms of money or "spending" is of limited use. WWII wartime economies were command economies. The government printed money, and it set the prices of many commodities and the wages of many workers. Most goods with any kind of scarcity were rationed. Labor was allocated thru various kinds of draft exemptions (i.e. an enterprise without draft exemptions got it's workers reallocated or drafted). Budgets, Tax Schemes and war bonds existed mostly to keep the currency from becoming completely worthless and destabilizing the small sectors of the economy that were not controlled directly by the government. Barter was used in international transactions and everyday life.

In some ways the most valuable thing a soldier received in WWII was free lodging and better rations than civilians. The most valuable thing a manufacturing concern received was a draft exemption or other labor allocation and the right to use scarce raw materials. This makes it really difficult to do the kind of budgetary comparison your looking for in this post.

Source: Maury Klein's "A Call to Arms: Mobilizing America for World War II"