 Recycling war machines: Canadian munitions disposal, reverse logistics, and economic recovery after World War IIAlex Souchen Business History, 2022, vol. 64, issue 5, 984-1000 Abstract: This article examines how the Canadian state disposed of surplus munitions and supplies after World War II. It makes three related arguments. First, mass production during the war created a post-war disposal crisis that compelled the government to regulate the divestment of assets for political and economic purposes. Second, through a government-run company, the War Assets Corporation (WAC), the Canadian state established a system of reverse logistics that recouped value from depreciating assets and prevented a flood of goods from deflating the economy. Third, the WAC oversaw destruction programmes that either eliminated or scrapped the unsellable remainders. In the end, this process recycled secondary resources into peacetime production and expanded material conversions to ensure that all types of war surpluses were profitability diffused into civilian hands. However, reversing wartime logistics was not without a dark side, rife with acrimony over prices and sales restrictions, as well as significant environmental degradation. Date: 2022 Downloads: (external link) Related works: Export reference: BibTeX RIS (EndNote, ProCite, RefMan) HTML/Text Persistent link: https://EconPapers.repec.org/RePEc:taf:bushst:v:64:y:2022:i:5:p:984-1000 Ordering information: This journal article can be ordered from DOI: 10.1080/00076791.2020.1796976 Access Statistics for this article Business History is currently edited by Professor John Wilson and Professor Steven Toms More articles in Business History from Taylor & Francis Journals |
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