"The Chinese have definitely targeted a better lot for their workers. Wal-Mart, the largest private sector employer in the US, announced a whopping increase in its minimum wage a few months ago.
"While Japan has been very vocal in saying 'we will devalue the yen, which will be a filip for corporate profits, but the quid pro quo is this has to be shared'," Hendry told Investment Week.
"Of course, you have seen it in the UK too with the Budget. It was almost as if the UK government had read our investment letter."
Eclectica portfolio manager George Lee added: "It is a sign politicians are starting to realise labour has been overly downtrodden in the last 10-15 years. It is recognition that we cannot get ourselves out of the imbalances we have in society without rewarding labour a little bit more."
Is this just the beginning for OECD countries?