Rationing in the United States "even if Japan does not fold now, the war will certainly be over before the books can be used." On August 15, 1945, World War II gas rationing was ended on the West Coast of the United States. Most other rationing restrictions also ended in August of 1945 except for sugar rationing, which lasted until 1947 in some parts of the country. Rationing in the United States Rationing is the controlled distribution of scarce resources, goods, or services, or an artificial restriction of demand. Rationing controls the size of the ration, which is one's allotted portion of the resources being
American automobile industry in the 1950s was signed three years later in July 1953, yet no official ending. For automakers in the early 1950s, this meant US government control over raw materials such as steel. While not as strict as the rationing that was seen during World War II, the impact was obvious, with steel being rationed to the different manufacturers under government control, rather than by market forces. The National Production Authority (NPA) had the final say on what resources each company would be given. In 1952, it limited the industry to 4,342,000 cars, with General Motors (GM) given a quota of 41 percent of