Document Type
Article
Publication Date
3-2026
Publication Title
National Bureau of Economic Research
Abstract
We study the role of war bonds and inflation in post-WWII federal elections. During WWII, the federal government conducted aggressive campaigns to convince Americans to invest their savings in war bonds. After the war, major bouts of inflation in 1946-48 and 1950-51 depressed the bonds’ real returns, provoking widespread frustration. In a difference-in-differences framework, we find that counties with higher war bond purchases shifted their votes towards the Republican Party in the postwar presidential elections. To address concerns related to the endogeneity of war bond purchases, we use an instrumental variables design, and obtain similar results. We also find that counties with more war bond purchases voted for more conservative congressional representatives in the late 1940s and 1950s. War bond ownership raised the saliency of inflation, and the unexpectedly severe rise in prices after the war triggered a backlash against the incumbent Democrats.
DOI
10.3386/w31969
Version
Author's Accepted Manuscript
Recommended Citation
Brunet, Gillian; Hilt, Eric; and Jaremski, Matthew S., "Inflation, War Bonds, and Voter Backlash in the 1950s" (2026). Economics: Faculty Publications, Smith College, Northampton, MA.
https://scholarworks.smith.edu/eco_facpubs/116
Comments
The version archived was updated April 30, 2026.