History 479B

Devine

Fall 2012

 

Study Questions for Murray Rothbard, “War Collectivism in World War I”

 

 

  1. How does the author define “War Collectivism”?  What does this term mean?  How did “War Collectivism” differ from the more free market-oriented capitalism of the late nineteenth century?

 

 

 

  1. What is a cartel?  Why does the author believe that “cartelization” came to dominate the government’s economic policy during World War I?

 

 

 

  1. How did war collectivism bring harmony among all interests (business owners, labor, and government)?  How was this “harmony” achieved?

 

 

 

  1. What was the purpose of the War Industries Board? (See page 5)

 

 

 

  1. What role did the leaders of industry play in the War Industries Board?  What were the pros and cons of having these men in such positions of power?

 

 

 

  1. Why did the top executives in many companies support close cooperation with the government?  Why did they accept government regulation of production and fixing of prices?  In short, what was in it for them?

 

 

 

  1. How did the War Industries Board insure that its directives were followed? 

 

 

 

  1. Agencies like the Food Administration were sold to the public as the means for keeping prices down, but the author argues that their actual effect was to keep prices up.  How does he use the example of wheat and sugar to make his case?

 

 

 

  1. Why did liberal intellectuals support War Collectivism?  What was in it for them?

 

 

 

  1. After World War I, the “Industrial Board” (p. 24) was created to bring together various representatives of a given industry so that they might reach an agreement with the government on what was a “fair” price and then set that price for their product.  The Board’s stated purpose was to secure large price reductions. Did it?

 

 

 

  1. According to the author, why is it worth looking at the War Collectivism of the 1910s?  What broader significance does it have beyond the immediate context of World War I?

 

 

 

  1. The author is pretty skeptical of War Collectivism. Why?  What evidence does he introduce in this article to convince his readers that they should be skeptical of it too?

 

 

 

  1. What were the tradeoffs of War Collectivism during World War I?  What good was achieved?  What were the accompanying costs?