The workers have won a pay rise – that means big changes for the economy

Rising wages in Britain mean big changes for our economy. Matthew Lynn explains why, and looks at five trends to watch in the coming months.

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The real surprise is the resurgence of M&S

The workersare gettingpoorer. The middle classes arebeing squeezed.The super-rich are getting wealthier and corporations are taking a bigger share of the pie. Over the years since the financial crash, that narrative on the economy has become very well established. And there was some truth in it. Through the deep recession of 2008 and 2009, real wages really did get squeezed. But it is not true any more.

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Matthew Lynn

Matthew Lynn is a columnist for Bloomberg, and writes weekly commentary syndicated in papers such as the Daily Telegraph, Die Welt, the Sydney Morning Herald, the South China Morning Post and the Miami Herald. He is also an associate editor of Spectator Business, and a regular contributor to The Spectator. Before that, he worked for the business section of the Sunday Times for ten years. 

He has written books on finance and financial topics, including Bust: Greece, The Euro and The Sovereign Debt Crisis and The Long Depression: The Slump of 2008 to 2031. Matthew is also the author of the Death Force series of military thrillers and the founder of Lume Books, an independent publisher.