Unnoticed in the austerity-driven travails following the financial crash lies another tectonic shift.   According to research by the US bank Morgan Stanley, since the start of the ‘recovery’ in 2009-10 total real wages have risen by £105bn, but profits have soared by £330bn.   This is the first time that profits have outperformed wages in absolute terms in 50 years.   In Germany employee pay has risen by £31bn while profits have accelerated to £99bn.   Things are even worse in Britain.    Here profits are up £14bn, but aggregate real wages are actually down £2bn.   This will get a lot worse still when low-middle income families are now officially expected to take an unprecedented 4-7% real terms cut in their living standards in this next year. Continue reading →