(FORTUNE Magazine) – Investing in Poland is like buying into a bankrupt company, says Jan Vanous, research director of PlanEcon, a Washington, D.C., consulting firm specializing in Eastern bloc countries. ''It's for gamblers. High risk, high return.'' Inflation, already about 120%, is likely to escalate. And in spite of Solidarity's smashing victory in the recent elections, analysts predict more labor upheaval. Nevertheless, President Bush -- who introduced a guaranteed-loan program that will back U.S. investors -- is encouraging companies to bet on Poland. Its scant advantages: Assets are inexpensive, particularly in terms of the depressed zloty, and labor is cheap and reasonably skilled. So far only a few big American companies have placed major investments in Poland. Marriott is building a hotel in Warsaw. Hanna Barbera Productions has formed a joint venture with Curtis Publishing and two Polish studios to make animated cartoons there. Eleven other U.S. companies have received approval to begin joint ventures since January, when Poland's liberal foreign investment law took effect. Since Bush's loan initiative in April, the Commerce Department says that inquiries about doing business in Poland have tripled.