Despite endless chatter about the ‘end of the recession', all the indications are that the present global system - capitalism - is in its deepest ever crisis and that there are no ‘green shoots' in sight. One thing is certain however: faced with declining profits and savage competition over markets, the ruling class has one answer: make the exploited, the real ‘wealth creators', pay through job-cuts, wage freezes, ‘modernising' working conditions and massive reductions of the social wage through cuts in the public services.