He said previously strikes on this scale were dominated by male, blue-collar workers, such as the miners in the 1980s.

BBC: Head teacher praised by David Cameron to strike

What's more, Germany's many large blue-chip companies not only have the scale to help them avoid job cuts, they have also been helped by the German government's recent short-term working scheme, in which the state subsidizes worker wages to help firms avoid layoffs.

FORBES: Work

Here, in blue, we've plotted the relative multiple on an inverted scale.

FORBES: The T. Rowe Small-Cap Gauge

Full-scale walls have been built of the shaped brick and deep blue or white ceramic tile that he wrapped effortlessly around columns and curved surfaces.

WSJ: Finnish Master Alvar Aalto | By Ada Louise Huxtable

The financial crisis was triggered by a bout of corporate social irresponsibility on a massive scale that has tarnished the reputations of even the bluest of blue-chip companies.

ECONOMIST: Corporate social responsibility

Rothko's No 1 (Royal Red and Blue), described by Sotheby's as "a seminal, large-scale masterpiece", was the subject of a heated bidding war.

BBC: Mark Rothko painting crowns New York art sale