War Industries Board
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The War Industries Board (WIB) was a United States government agency established on July 28, 1917, during World War I, and reorganized in 1918 under the leadership of Bernard M. Baruch. The organization encouraged companies to use mass-production techniques to increase efficiency and urged them to eliminate waste by standardizing products. The WIB set production quotas and allocated raw materials. It also conducted psychological testing to help people find the right jobs.
The WIB also dealt with labor-management disputes resulting from increased demand for products during World War I. The government could not negotiate prices and could not handle worker strikes, so the WIB regulated the two to decrease tensions by stopping strikes with wage increases to prevent a shortage of supplies going to the war in Europe.
Under the WIB industrial production in the U.S. increased 20 percent. However, the WIB applied price controls only at the wholesale level. As a result, retail prices soared, almost doubling between 1914 and 1954.
