Title: War Economy

Author: Baker, J. V. T.

Publication details: Historical Publications Branch, 1965, Wellington

Part of: The Official History of New Zealand in the Second World War 1939–1945

This text is the subject of: ‘Something of Them Is Here Recorded’: Official History in New Zealand

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Economic Impacts of War

The main economic impacts of the war on New Zealand were the call for manpower for the forces, the heavy financial cost of war, the demands on overseas funds, the need for extra food production and the realignment of industries to provide military construction and equipment instead of peacetime requirements. These demands on New Zealand were all on a large scale. She escaped the serious physical destruction incurred by those countries which actually became battlefields but the impact on her economy in other ways was very considerable. A major purpose of the chapters which follow is to show how the New Zealand economy was reorganised to meet these demands and how they were in fact met.