Quote:
Originally Posted by Purrybonker
erratum... "loaned" is not a synonym for "spent"; i.e. the Marshall Plan. War has been an export business for North America. At the end of WW2, ramped up industrial capacity needed consumptive capacity to keep the good times rolling. Hence the Marshall Plan (loaning $ to Europe to rebuild), etc. That Germany and Japan, et al became amazing industrial powers very quickly after WW2 is a credit to their capacity to build and succeed. Military service in Europe during the 60's showed me the difference between war recovery in the UK and Germany. Evidence of war in Germany was almost non-existent 15 years after virtually complete destruction yet downtown London still showed much evidence (actually years older) of bombing.
Give credit where due...
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Keep in mind that UK apart from Marshal plan support and loans also had the Lend-Lease dept to repay.
Germany did not accrue any such debt during the war as they pretty much robbed Europe to fund their side of the war.. (and were ultimately outspent by the US and UK)
They did however get hammered by reparations, but those got taken in the form of dismantled factories and german forced labor..
They did not carry as much debt as the UK did. The German forced labor bit , was a good thing for them as those mouths did not have to be fed at home. less unemployment and such.
And in 1953 their debt got reshuffled, and reparration dismantaling stopped as Germany became the front line for the Cold War againt the russians..
A lot of US bases were built which did good for their cash flow as well.
UK might have in the "won the war" camp, but economically they got a **** deal. They went from WW2 to Cold War spending, independence of colonies and in the end They payed off all their debts.
