History

Re: "WWI nearly destroyed all of the wealth in the U.S. created since the Civil War"

Jonathan M. F. Catalán — Mon, 15 Nov 2010 17:37:37 GMT

If the quote is the same as the thread's title, "WWI nearly destroyed all of the wealth in the U.S. created since the Civil War", then we're talking about American wealth.

Even taking into consideration global wealth, I still don't think the statement would be true.

Re: "WWI nearly destroyed all of the wealth in the U.S. created since the Civil War"

LogisticEarth — Mon, 15 Nov 2010 16:57:55 GMT

That would imply that after World War I we reverted to standards of living similar to those before the American Civil War, which I think is obviously false.

Does the original statment say that the US, by entering WW I destroyed it's OWN wealth, or that the combined destruction of the war across all societies involved, equaled all the wealth creation that the US had generated since the civil war (ignoring the concurrent production of the European states and others involved).

If it's the latter, I'd say it's far more plausible. Europe was devestated, Germany was broken economically, and Russia devolved into civil war, followed by the starvation associated with War Communism.

Re: "WWI nearly destroyed all of the wealth in the U.S. created since the Civil War"

Scrooge McDuck — Thu, 11 Nov 2010 05:54:01 GMT

That's true, I didn't think about it that way.

Re: "WWI nearly destroyed all of the wealth in the U.S. created since the Civil War"

Jonathan M. F. Catalán — Thu, 11 Nov 2010 04:38:53 GMT

That would imply that after World War I we reverted to standards of living similar to those before the American Civil War, which I think is obviously false.

Re: "WWI nearly destroyed all of the wealth in the U.S. created since the Civil War"

mediahasyou — Thu, 11 Nov 2010 04:33:28 GMT

I disagree. While WWI did destroy wealth, some wealth created since the civil war still remains untouched. i.e. http://www.co.eureka.nv.us/opera/opera01.htm (house built in 1880 still exists)

"WWI nearly destroyed all of the wealth in the U.S. created since the Civil War"

Scrooge McDuck — Wed, 10 Nov 2010 23:25:16 GMT

Does anyone have an article or source that backs up this claim? I remember Stefan Molyneux mentioning it, but he didn't cite a source. I'm writing a paper on the dangers of central banking and it would be really helpful.