2 NOVEMBER 1991, Page 34

. . . Stop press

PENDING adoption of the Odling-Smee plan, the Soviet government finances itself • by printing roubles. It has to print more and more of them. Good news for the printers, at least? Not exactly. When infla- tion destroys the mark as it is now des- troying the rouble, the German printers of the 1920s ran their presses round the clock — and, afterwards, were ruined. The presses were worn out, and the reserves which they set aside for buying new ones were, unfortunately, all in marks.