History Replay

World War II & Postwar Inflation

Massive war spending ended the Depression; unemployment fell below 2%, followed by a burst of inflation after price controls ended.

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Monthly data back to 1871 for stocks, prices and long-term rates; unemployment from 1929 and GDP from 1929.
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Gray bands = official recessions (NBER). Orange dots = key events. Stepped lines are annual averages. Data sources

🌍 Global context: the world’s largest economies

Gross domestic product in current U.S. dollars, 1960–2023 (World Bank). The orange line follows the year you are replaying. Click a country to show or hide it.