Quote:If the government prints money to cover their debts (which they have to do now), they will devalue the dollar and force the people in the USA (and elsewhere) who depend on the dollar to become dependent on the government.
That's possible, although historical experience seems to indicate that governments who devalue sharply to cover their debts will break their own backs.
Quote:I believe it was Pol Potts who actually outlawed currency for awhile in Cambodia during their early communist conversion.
Practically every communist government tried this at one stage or another. The Soviets, the Cubans... I can't speak to the Khmer Rouge, but it would hardly surprise me. However, this is the *opposite* of inflation. There is no such thing as inflation in a barter economy, and if the state is fixing prices for everything, then the obvious consequence is that prices are not moving. (Edit: I suppose it has some of the effects of a one-time massive hyperinflation shock, rendering all cash savings valueless. But unlike printing money to get the same effect, the government does not get to keep the proceeds. Very stupid policy, and the results speak for themselves.)
Quote:So yes, it might be as you said, a Keynesian remark that Lenin agreed with rather than an actual proposition that Lenin hoped to implement.
Except that this is the whole point. Not only did Lenin not agree (in the sense of he never said anything specifically in agreement with what Keynes was writing), he did not even agree in the sense of believing inflation was good for socialism and bad for capitalism. He apparently believed exactly the opposite.
Quote:The end result of the process will still be the new New Deal where private industry will take the back seat to government controlled industry.
How so? Inflation is a powerful tool that cuts back on accumulated cash reserves and funnels them to the government, but that gives powerful incentive to invest rather than hold cash. Investment means private ownership, not government ownership. Things would only revert to the government if the devaluation was total, and the Fed obviously has no interest in hyperinflation. (Wow, writing that sentence made my head hurt.)
Quote:However, I would still maintain that we really are facing a time now when the value of the dollar will decline, and the cost of goods will rise. Many of my friends are already trading services directly and avoiding the exchange of currency, and most finance savvy people I know have put a substantial portion of their assets into precious metals. Just yesterday an accountant friend of mine told me about their exchange of an expensive dental surgery(not covered by insurance) for tax preparation services.
Unless you're in a liquidity trap, in which case you'd better be prepared for deflation, not inflation. But, then, if these things were really predictable, you could make a killing in the currency market.
-Jester