ABSTRACT
There is only one country which in recent years has put the idea of monetary isolation fully into practice. That country is the Soviet Union. From an economic point of view, Soviet Russia is far from being isolated. She has maintained a substantial volume of import and export trade; she has obtained credits abroad, has kept substantial accounts with foreign banks, and has opened overseas branches of her banking and trading organisation. All this is contrary to the principle of economic isolation such as was adopted, for instance, in Paraguay for a while during the last century, or in Japan prior to the European penetration. The monetary isolation of Soviet Russia was not the result of any preconceived scheme but of the sequence of developments. To begin with, the Soviet rouble had the same relation to other monetary systems as had any other currency, even though the disturbed political and economic conditions in Russia during the first few years of the Soviet régime interfered with the reciprocal monetary influences between that country and the rest of the world. Even after the Soviet currency was stabilised, it was not the Government’s intention to isolate its monetary system from international influences. The tchervonetz was quoted in foreign markets. After her inflationary experience, it appeared on the surface that Soviet Russia would revert to the orthodox monetary system.
