By 1940 the economy had recovered, mainly due to the sale of arms and supplies to the foreign powers at war. We even sold scrap metal to the Japanese which was melted and used to make bombs that were used against us.
This is the reason why every time scrap metal value goes up, economists gets worried that there might be another war.
In times of war, their is usually rationing or rapid inflation and price gouging.
Rubber, Oil, Fuel, Food, building supplies, Clothing all escalates in price.
The cost of housing in the cities tripled and quadrupled at the start of the war, especially in cities where Kaiser had his steel mills and fabrication plants for shipbuilding.
This is the reason why we had the wage and price freeze in the 1970's and why we now have a sale price and a regular price for the goods that we buy in the stores.
If the government ever chooses to put a freeze on the prices again, the manufacturers and the suppliers can dictate the price due to the normal price vs the sale price.
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