ABSTRACT
The preceding chapters have attempted to measure and compare the economic tasks undertaken by certain countries in the years before they became involved in the Second World War. Before going on to compare their economic achievements in the war itself, it may be interesting to see what can be done in comparing the United Kingdom's economic war effort in the years 1939-44 with that of 1914-18. The British economic effort in the recently ended war is extremely well documented ; the sources from which resources were drawn for it have been analysed in successive White Papers, the latest of which, at the time of writing, is Cmd. 6623 of April 1945. For the previous World War there is no comparable record ; unofficial estimates of the British national income in various years before its outbreak exist, as do similar estimates for 1924 and later years. In between these two points there is little evidence on which to base an estimate. Similarly, there is practically no direct evidence as to the course of private net investment during those years, and little to indicate the course of private consumption, so that it is extremely hard to see from how big a cake the known resources used for war were cut, and what were the sizes of the slices left over.
