THE economy is picking up, apparently.

I guess it all depends where you work and in what industry.

Whenever I travel north to visit family, it can feel like a different world – especially after a week working in London. I certainly don’t subscribe to the notion that “it’s grim up North”, but the divide is growing. I have no doubt about that.

There seems to be a steady improvement in and around Thames Valley. The IT industry seemed to weather the economic turbulence comparatively well.

So, for the time being, things are looking rosy. A few people might have even managed a pay rise this year.

One lucky lad has managed a monster wage increase. Despite indifferent form and a questionable attitude, Wayne Rooney is pocketing a reported 300k a week. Nice work if you can get it. Things have come a long way since Jimmy Hill campaigned to scrap the maximum wage. But has it all gone too far? At what point do you say this is madness, enough is enough?

Comparisons with the average wage of, say a nurse, are well documented. Rooney pockets in a few hours what your average Royal Berks employee takes home in a year. Many critics, with a certain degree of justification, would argue that it’s an obscene situation. You can see their point. Wayne plays a game, albeit an incredibly popular one, while a nurse helps save lives. It’s perplexing, to say the least.

Unfortunately it’s indicative of how our world is becoming ever more dominated by market forces. In short, scarcity is key.

Whatever you think of Wayne, his skills are deemed to be in short supply. Despite Manchester United having a little panic, given their current plight, he’s not readily replaceable. The monster salary is fuelled by an insatiable foreign television market and a global reach that clubs could only dream of 30 years ago. Supply and demand is what makes the world go round.

I question whether it can keep going. All economic bubbles eventually burst. Off the top of my head, I can think of at least a dozen historic old clubs that are saddled with millions of pounds worth of debt.

To be fair to Wayne, mismanaged football clubs and underpaid nurses aren’t his fault – or his problem. That said, I do hope his bumper contract galvanises him when he plays for England. Wishful thinking, perhaps.