23 NOVEMBER 1974, Page 5

Premature

The Financial Times has decided to adopt the American definition of a billion which is 'one thousand million,' to be indicated in abbreviation as gm'. This is to supersede the Oxford Dictionary and normal British definition of a billion as the up-to-now useless, except in astronomical science, 'a million million'. It might have been as well for them to have delayed their decision for a few months, just in case we are hit by a real old-time hyper-inflation with sacks of pound notes buying a few potatoes. If this were to happen, the old British definition could yet come in very useful indeed.