19 SEPTEMBER 1970, Page 25

(doom in the City

Sir: Nicholas Davenport states (5 Septem- ber): 'wages have risen this year at the rate of £500 million a year extra.' This is surely a gross under-estimate?

Some 20 million persons in Britain now earn an average of approximately £20 a week. A general 5 per cent increment must therefore represent about £1.000 million a year. Earnings have in fact been rising at the rate of 12 per cent, equivalent to an increase of nearly £2,500 million a year.