The need to ration during WWII provides an excellent framework for discussing the nature of the global economy, comparing the US economic system with other systems used worldwide. As an Economics teacher, I would use these resources to help students examine how the US mixed-market economy is able to respond to changes in supply and demand, in comparison with other economic systems (such as command or traditional). As one of the resources noted, the US economy was much more successful in adapting manufacturing and spending habits, resulting in the ability to respond to trade shortages to meet demand, both during and after the war. To help students understand how the mixed-market system facilitated this success, I would have them review these resources, then use them to compare the US response to the response of other countries who rebounded from the 1930s-1940s less-successfully, with an emphasis on the types of economic systems these countries employ. Anticipated conclusions would show other economic systems prevented these countries from being able to respond to changes in supply and demand as efficiently as the mixed-market economy.

As an Economics teacher, I appreciate the emphasis on the battle between the communist command economy and the capitalist mixed-market economy that is woven throughout the propaganda of the Cold War ear. One way I would use these resources might be to have students compare the seemingly contradictory posters of Rosie the Riveter vs. the housewife with her pile of dishes dreaming of a dishwasher to see how the media seeks to influence public opinion, and how to look for these biases. I might also use the video of Nixon and Khrushchev to help students develop their own arguments over the pros and cons of the two economic systems being debated. I might then have them carry out their own debate, in which the class decides which system is superior.

As an Economics teacher, I would use the resources in this module to help students explore the potential a mixed-market economy provides for entrepreneurship surrounding the rise of technology. I would ask students to look for the motivators for producers (potential profit, consumer demands, resources available) that impacted the supply created. I would also ask students to explore the motivation of competition between producers both within the US, and within the larger global economic community. I would also ask students to explore how desires from consumers for smaller, more reliable, and more efficient devices drove production. The resources in this module provide a great backdrop to discuss the impact of supply and demand, and the choices facing all economic systems.

I would use the resources in this module to reinforce lessons on human rights, connections between culture and the economy, and suffrage. The way the rise of women in the workplace coincided with the centralization of workforces and the rise of movements for improved working conditions and labor unions provides ample fuel for discussion of basic human rights, such as the right to assemble, the right to life, liberty, and the pursuit of happiness, etc.