Dear Sir,

Your story dated 22/1/07, "Global survey shows business has regained people's trust", repeatedly refers to "the people" or "the public", yet casually admits that it is based on a survey of "3,100 opinion leaders", also described as "top earners with an interest in politics and economics." When did "top earners" become a representative sample of "the people"?

My calendar says 2007, yours seems to be stuck in the 18th century: it has been a while since we could discount the opinions of most of the population quite so easily.

In the context of the Edelman survey cum sales exercise on which the story is based I believe the headline should have read "Global survey shows business has regained stock holding public's trust".

Such headlines - and what they shamelessly imply in terms of what (money) and who (people with money) matters in today's world - go a long way towards explaining the rise of "populism" that you have been lamenting in recent columns.

Colman, will you send it? Should we try a joint ET byline?

In the long run, we're all dead. John Maynard Keynes