Be careful who you do business with. Many Soviet companies are now free to buy from Western companies, but payments to small suppliers may be years late. Of course, it's just as easy to lose out by working for any near-bankrupt company. The boss may not tell you that you must save the company to get paid.

Canada's recession is currently worse than that in the U.S., with 9.7% unemployment and record numbers of bankruptcies. But there are ways to profit. A startup magazine named Recession was profitable from the first press run of 20,000 copies. (Homestead advice and a package of vegetable seeds in every issue.) The two graphic artists who started it thought the magazine would be a small operation with just a local following. [Mary Williams Walsh, Los Angeles Times.]

When times get tight, you have to go where the money is. The Bush administration is proposing a 13% increase in R&D funding. Big winners are likely to be the Pentagon, Department of Energy, and several agencies working on high-capacity computer data communications. [The Institute, 4/91.]

Don't forget to deduct job-hunting costs on your income tax. You may be able to include transportation, meals, resumes, career counseling, etc. (Possibly even newsletter subscriptions!)