The war prematurely put about 50 million people in an earthen depression and backfilled it. A myriad of other devastations of war certainly put many more in a psychological depression. But, GDP grew, and that’s what these despicable materialists really care about.
It’s pretty easy to reduce unemployment when the government compels about 16 million men to join the armed forces over a few years out of a total population of 132 million. These 16 million suffered more than just “slave labor wages”.
GDP certainly grew by some that was all that machinery and stuffs sent to Europe and the Pacific to be destroyed. Growth in government spending = growth in GDP? Well it does to Democrats and other Keynesians, I suppose.