Memorandum, War Expenditures by United Nations

STORET WAR EXPENDITURES BY UNITED NATIONS The attached tables are drawn from War Production Planning Document No. 21 prepared by Raymond Goldsmith. This document is labeled Secret. Table I shows war expenditures of the United States as com- pared to war expenditure: by other United Nations for the years 1938 to 1944 The table shows that for the year 19414 U. S. expenditures amounted to 63 per cent of the total as against 60 per cent for the three-year period from 1942 to 1944. The figures a.re stated in dollar terms and converted at current exchange rates. This, of course, in- volves all sorts of problems but comparative figures obtained by de- flating current price levels in the various countries to their re- spective 1939 levels and then using 1939 exchange rates for purposes of conversion yield similar results. Table II shows war expenditures by major nations as a per cent of their gross national product. If reference is made to the economic war effort, this is the more significant comparison, although it must be kept in mind that no allowance for war destruction is made. The table shows the ratios for U. S., Canada, United Kingdom, and Russia to be ap- proximately the same and below both those of Germany and Japan. Attachments DECLASSIFIED E.O. 11652, Sec. 3(E) and 5(D) or a Dept. of State letter, Aug. 10, 1972 By WITHIC NARS Date 6.29-76