On Lenin's inflationary plan for your money

John Maynard Keynes was a British economist and one of the most influential figures in the history of modern economics. He was born in 1883 and studied at the University of Cambridge, where he later taught. Keynes is best known for his ideas on how government intervention in the economy can be used to stabilize economic activity and reduce unemployment. He developed these ideas in response to the economic challenges of the Great Depression, and his work had a major influence on the development of economic policy in the 20th century. Keynes, presumably on learning of rampant wartime inflation in Soviet Russia while he was negotiating at the Treaty of Versailles, related that he had heard that Lenin had said:

"the best way to destroy the Capitalist System is to debauch its currency."

Vladimir Lenin was a Russian communist revolutionary, politician, and head of the Soviet Union. He was born in 1870 and played a key role in the Russian Revolution of 1917, which led to the overthrow of the Russian monarchy and the establishment of the Soviet Union. Lenin was a vocal critic of capitalism and developed a number of ideas about how to create a socialist society. He is best known for his work on the theory of imperialism and for his role in the development of the Soviet state. Lenin was not at the treaty of Versailles and there are no records of him ever making that statement. However the statement lived on and was quoted by other economists, politicians and now the libertarian wing of the Twitter mob.

The way to crush capitalism is with inflation and taxation — One of the many famous memes that quote Lenin on Inflation

What Lenin did say was:

Everybody recognizes that the issue of paper money is the worst kind of a compulsory loan, that it worsens the conditions principally of the workers, of the poorest section of the population, that it is the chief evil in the financial confusion.... The unlimited issue of paper money encourages speculation, allows the capitalists to make millions, and places tremendous obstacles in the path of the much-needed expansion of production; for the dearth of materials, machines, etc., grows and progresses by leaps and bounds. How can matters be improved when the riches acquired by the rich are being concealed?

Or to rephrase in the language of Donald Trump:

"Let me tell you, folks, this paper money situation is a disaster, a real disaster. It's a compulsory loan that hurts the little guy, the working class, the poorest people. It's the worst. And it's causing all kinds of financial confusion, believe me. The unlimited printing of this paper money is a disaster, it's encouraging speculation, making the rich even richer, and it's ruining our economy. We need to get rid of it and get back to real money, the kind that's backed by something solid. The rich are getting richer and hiding their wealth, it's a disgrace. We need to make America great again and that starts with fixing our currency. Believe me."

Why did Keynes credit Lenin with that meme when his only published statement on inflation is the opposite?

It's a mystery why Keynes would attribute that statement about debauching currency to Lenin, when everything else Lenin wrote about inflation suggests the opposite. Some historians have speculated that Keynes may have believed that the inflationary policy in Russia was intentional, part of some sort of Bolshevik scheme. But it's more likely that Keynes saw Lenin as a convenient villain to warn against reckless inflation.

On the other hand, Keynes's own economic policies were known to be inflationary compared to the more cautious, tight money approach that was common at the time. Maybe Keynes understood that government control of the economy carried with it the inherent danger of inflation, and that it needed to be handled with caution.

By tying excessive inflation to the notorious destroyer of private property, Keynes might instill caution in the minds of those who might otherwise throw it to the wind.

In any event, it seems highly unlikely that Lenin actually said what he is claimed to have said. There is no evidence to support the claim that he said this, and it is possible that the statement was invented or mis-attributed to him at some point in the past. It is important to be careful about accepting statements or quotations as true, especially when they are being used to support a particular argument or perspective, and to verify the sources and context of such statements before relying on them.