The Quiet Power of “Please Don’t Buy from Us”

Pearl Harbor changed everything. The U.S. had managed to stay out of World War II for two years. It started in September 1939. But then, Japanese planes invaded Honolulu on December 7, 1941—a day that will live in infamy. Suddenly, the business of business became the business of war.

 

During World War II, 17 million new civilian jobs were created, industrial productivity increased by 96 percent, and corporate profits after taxes doubled. Much of the industrial world retooled to support the troo...