Re: Keynes quote

[Stephen Block <stephenb@xxxxxxxx>]

Can I ask a naive question? Why the interest in this quote? Is there a
subtext here; an implied accusation that Keynes was interested in
confiscation and that that he supported, or a allowed for a somewhat
inflationary fiscal policy as a means of diminishing the power of the
bourgeoisie? It seems to me that Keynes also states, in E C of P that he is
not a supporter of communism. I think in fact he calls himself a "liberal",
although with obvious differences in meaning from "laissez-faire" liberalism
which he also condemns.

If Keynes expresses a desire to reduce the power of the rich it is certainly
through his ideas towards monetary policy where he states bluntly that it is
by keeping interest rates very low that the "rentier class" will not be
unduly rewarded by the economic advantage that high rates provide wealthy
savers (holders of large amounts of cash). But here, his view was that
money, especially in very hard times, needed to be chased or scared back
into the economy and not hoarded. It was only by this means that economic
activity could be resumed: by getting the flow of money back to a reasonable
intensity. It was the wealthy's propensity to hoard or hide their wealth and
thereby withdraw it from circulation that worried Keynes. And so his project
was in effect quite the opposite of Lenin's: he wished to save capitalism
(from itself) not destroy it. This is precisely what he was then accused of
doing, by leftist critics later on.

All in all, this quote , and his interest in it, shows Keynes' pragmatism:
any means necessary to get put the economy aright, to get it refloated. If
the rich get in the way of that project, make them pay for their obstinence
(through low interest rates). That is the way I read it.

Stephen Block, Ph.D.
Philosophy and Humanities
Vanier College
Montreal
off: 514 744 7135
Fax: 954 212 5736


>
> On Mon, 08 Jul 2002 22:55:15 -0500 "William B. Ryan"
> <william_b_ryan@xxxxxxxxxxxxxxx> wrote:
>> Yes, but did Lenin really say it?  If so, what is the original
>> citation from Lenin?  Keynes didn't tell us.  Lenin is "said" to
>> have declared, said Keynes.  I'm sure our Marxist-Leninist friends
>> can supply the answer if there is one.
>
> Some attribute it to Lenin in 1910.
> That may help pin down the source.
>
>> It is not especially radical.  It's part of the corpus of propaganda
>> against government issued fiat money.
>
> Yes it is used that way.  Which is why it is so interesting to
> discover Keynes actually said something very similar:
> " Lenin was certainly right. There is no subtler, no surer
> means of overturning the existing basis of society than to
> debauch the currency. The process engages all the hidden forces
> of economic law on the side of destruction, and does it in a
> manner which not one man in a million is able to diagnose."
>
>> The purported "quotation" I
>> suspect originated from the Populist-Greenbacker era, in reaction
>> thereto, and attributed to the Rothchilds, Lenin, Keynes, whomever
>> was convenient at the moment to attribute it to.  A concoction, pure
>> and simple.
>
> Well, now that I have been pointed to the text, I would say it is a
> rather modest paraphrase, not just a concoction.
>
>> It's also part and parcel of "Austrian" "economics," to this very
>> day, isn't it, Alan?
>
> Well as a quote it clearly has more substantial Keynesian than
> Austrian roots.  Of course some Austrians have been very fond of the
> gold standard, and Hayek claimed advantages for a free competition
> among currencies.
>
>> Question for Alan:  Do you agree with it?  If so, why?
>
> Of course not.
> Surely more than one in a million can diagnose this.
> ;-)
>
> I would have assumed that the German hyperinflation provided a context
> for Keynes's statements, but for the timing. (ECP is dated 1919.)
>
> Alan
>
>
>
>