After the war, the government was rolling back intervention, i.e., freeing markets and private enterprises, and returning assets, wealth, and income to the private sector. Before the war, the government was increasing government intervention, i.e., restricting markets and private enterprises, taking assets, wealth, and income from the private sector.
Robert Higgs’s articles on Regime Uncertainty in the G.D. and Reassessing Wartime Prosperity are essential reading:
http://www.independent.org/pdf/tir/tir_01_4_higgs.pdf
http://www.independent.org/newsroom/article.asp?id=138
