21 AUGUST 1993, Page 24

Delorean (adj.)

MY FRIEND Peter Hambro, president of Europe's largest gold mine (in good eating country near Toulouse) and prospector by appointment to the government of Kaza- khstan, rebukes me for saying that the gold standard was overwhelmed by economic reality. No, no, he protests, that was the ERM. Gold is God-given, the ERM by con- trast is Delorean — 'an adjective whose meaning the plucky punters in that motor manufacturing fiasco will readily supply'.