But the point, in part, was simply to spend money which the government raised by borrowing. Roosevelt’s policies were influenced by a new financial guru, British economist John Maynard Keynes, who argued that deficit spending and high income taxes would unlock a nation’s wealth, boost employment, and generate enough economic growth to pay for the cost of financing an activist government. This was not entirely new. The US had done something similar during the Civil War and World War I. What was new was to put a nation’s economy on a wartime footing when there was not a war. Of course, there was an impact on prices. While the Great Depression was deflationary, pulling out of it generated inflation. So the race was and has been ever since, between price inflation and economic growth, necessitating that growth prevail. If growth faltered, even for two quarters, it was called a “recession.”

US banks and investors also continued to make huge amounts of money through financing German rearmament. In addition to loans from Morgan and Chase—both now Rockefeller-controlled banks—Germany profited from cash infusions and partnership agreements with IBM, General Motors, the Ford Motor Company, Du Pont, and Standard Oil. According to a 2001 research report by the Ford Motor Company, at the start of World War II, 250 American companies owned more than $450 million worth of German assets. Among these companies were Standard Oil, Woolworth, IT&T, Singer, International Harvester, Eastman Kodak, Gillette, Coca Cola, Westinghouse, United Fruit, Ford, and GM. There are still people today who sing the praises of the Nazi “economic miracle” bringing Germany back from the Great Depression and providing full employment. But if you look at American loans and industrial investment you get a clearer idea of where this “miracle” came from.