Meghan McArdle is confused...

Here she says that "we just don't know" that WWII ended the Great Depression. Sorry, but yes we do. Of course, I would date the end of the Great Depression to 1939, when war spending in Europe increased demand for US goods. Just b/c it was done in Europe does not mean it wasn't done by government. This, combined with what FDR was already doing, kicked the economy into high gear. Once the US govt's war spending started to increase, the first few years of the war were some of the fastest US growth on record (save FDR's first couple years in office)...