Germany's emergence from financial chaos into a state of ordered
prosperity hai been one of the most remarkable de- veloinienti of the post-War years. How it was achieved may be read at length in a singularly able book by the man chiefly responsible, Dr. Hjahriar. Schacht, Director of the Reichsbank. The Stabilisation of the Mark (G. Allen and Unwin, 8s. 6d.) is somewhat technical in places and expresses the German view of political questiotW 'somewhat strongly, but it is well worth c'areful • study: Dr. Schacht repudiates the suggestion that the German Government deliberately inflated the currency to escape reparation Payments ; the ordinary charge has been, however, that the Government promoted a crash in order to wipe out the national debt and start afresh. Dr. Schacht is on surer ground when he laments the eiccesses of nationalishi and " self-determination " in European coun- tries, as expressed in tariff barriers, and pleads for interna- tional co-operation. " The new small national States which have come into being have the one ambition only of creating economic independence for themselves. As though the Czech were only supplied by Czechs, or the Pole by Poles, the Serb by Serbs, the Rumanian by the Rumanians, and the
rest of it ! "
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