GOVERNMENT: The Hoffman Plan

In the bare Washington office of the Economic Cooperation Administration last week, a harried young woman slammed down a telephone receiver. "Horse meat!" she snorted. "That's the fifteenth man who's tried to sell us horse meat for Europe. They won't believe we're not buying anything here." As EGA set up shop last week, it was swamped by hundreds of calls from eager businessmen with things to sell. Dozens of food samples poured in, from canned stuffed zucchini to "Wheat Germ Residue and Food Yeast Mix," which EGA was advised to mix with rice to make it stretch farther.

Not since...