How did people buy war bonds?
Furthermore, why do people buy war bonds?
War bonds are debt securities issued by a government to finance military operations and other expenditure in times of war. In practice, modern governments finance war by putting additional money into circulation, and the function of the bonds is to remove money from circulation and help to control inflation.
Then, why did governments sell war bonds?
War bonds had been sold to finance American involvement in World War I, but World War II required the government to borrow unprecedented amounts of money. By convincing Americans that it was their patriotic duty to buy war bonds, the government kept inflation down during the war.
The US savings bonds marketed as "war bonds" during World War II were the Series E bond, which guaranteed a return of 4% 2.9%. However, as is typically true of bonds as an investment class, they would not bring long-term returns as high as a portfolio of stocks less attractive than T bonds or stocks.