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OFFICE OF PRICE ADMINISTRATION

During World War II (1939–1945), the federal government became the major consumer of production for the war period. Accordingly, Congress instituted a price fixing authority on all goods and wages with the creation of the Office of Price Administration (OPA), and the "General Maximum Price Regulation" (General Max), which froze all retail prices at their highest price levels as of March 1942.

On April 27, 1942, President Franklin Roosevelt outlined another aspect of price administration, to be known as "rationing" (which Roosevelt described as a "democratic, equitable solution" to the issue of providing goods for Americans that had become scarce because of the war). Items that were rationed in some way included gasoline, rubber tires, leather shoes, butter, and products with nylon content.

The rationing of goods to U.S. consumers during World War II was one of the many functions of the OPA. Perhaps the major problem of the OPA, functionally, was keeping economic inflation in strict control domestically, while providing military forces overseas with what they needed to fight the war.

See also: Rationing, World War II