First coined in 2001 by Goldman Sachs, BRIC was the collective given to the group of countries – Brazil, Russia, India and China. The investment bank argued in a thesis entitled Dreaming with BRIC’S: The path to 2050 that by the year 2050 the combined gross domestic product of these 4 countries will surpass the product of the elite G7 group of the US, Japan, Germany, Britain, Canada and Italy. The term has stuck and whether this theory is acknowledged by all is neither here nor there, because the figures can’t hide the truth. The BRIC economies are catching and they are catching fast, furthermore the current financial crisis has only strengthened the position of these emerging markets. As the rest of the world’s economies shrink China is expected to expand by 6% this year and India 4.5%,.
This has led the chief economist at Goldman Sachs and the original author of the thesis to revise his theory and predict that the BRIC economies will surpass the G7’s efforts by 2027, as little as 18 years time. This is almost half the original prediction and it would come as no surprise were this to be revised again.
Perhaps of more significance though is the inaugural summit of the BRIC leaders in the Russian city of Yekaterinburg. It will be the first time in history the leaders of these emerging powers will assemble for talks and the implications to the rest of the global economy are far reaching. The momentum of this group is gathering pace all the time, and this is the clearest signal yet that this group of nations are able to look after themselves and solve their issues separately with out the help of the G7.
