Praises for Raises

Just about 99.44% of the nation's economists and analysts believe that wages spiraling ahead of productivity will put the U.S. at a serious disadvantage in world trade and will contribute to the gold drain. But A.F.L.-C.I.O. President George Meany is not a man to be intimidated by odds; he vigorously believes that wages should be raised to spur buying power and growth. "Don't let anyone tell you that low wages are the answer to our problem," said he at a union meeting in suburban Miami last week. "On the contrary, ours is a high-wage, high-priced economy, and it must move forward by growing at a rate of at least 4 1/2% a year to create new jobs for the hundreds of thousands of new workers who are coming into the labor force each year."

As Meany spoke, General Motors Corp., biggest U.S. manufacturer, was preparing to announce that its hourly rated employees averaged $3.06 an hour last year. By contrast, latest figures show wages of 26-c- in Japan, 61-c- in Italy, 72-c- in France and 78-c- in West Germany.

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