After World War II, about the time the US was about to begin its boom, people in Holland had to go out near the coal trains so that they could pick up whatever

After World War II, about the time the US was about to begin its boom, people in Holland had to go out near the coal trains so that they could pick up whatever coal had fallen off the trains, or they would have nothing to heat their homes with; Germany was flattened as was Japan and Korea. Meat rationing in the UK did not end until July 4, 1954 – that's almost a decade after the war. Japan did not start getting back on its feet until the Korean War. I have been to Germany and I can personally assure you that the life they live now is nothing like it was in 1950. So yeah, there's your rising standard of living worldwide. Key point _worldwide_, although some of it also happened to US.