BRICS

BRICS

Introduction

The name BRIC was first coined by “Jim O'Neil of Goldman Sachs” in a paper released in 2001 which was titled as “The World Needs Better Economic BRIC”. The word “BRIC” countries refer to a group of selected countries which includes Brazil, Russia, India and China. These four countries are highlighted from the main host which promises emerging markets by their economic and demographic potential. These demographic and economic potential helps the countries to rank them as the world's most influential and largest economies in contemporary times. If placed together, these four countries lying under the heading of BRIC constitutes 40 percent of the world's total population comprising of 2.8 billion people. In area wise, these four countries cover more than one fourth of the land area of the whole world. Not only has this but they also covered more than 25 percent of global Gross Domestic Product (GDP).

Discussion

Brazil, Russia, India and China are becoming one of the most powerful economies in the global economy. Therefore, it would not be fair to put these four countries as par with any other developed countries in the world. Other developed countries in the world refers to Mexico or South Africa. The four countries in BRIC have made significant investments in different areas such as good governance, social programs, domestic institutions including health and education, infrastructure and production which gives them an added advantage over other developed countries. The size of these four economies even on an initial level outweighs other economies on a comparative basis. Renard in his study argued that “The difference between emergence of BRIC's and the rise of the next economies is that BRIC's have had a much greater impact on the global economy”, (Renard, 2009). During the years from 2000 to 2007, 27 percent of the global growth was contributed by these four economies. It is believed that by 2050, these four economies can outweigh or even become larger than the G6 economies. This could lead to a change in agenda, power and wealth (Goldman Sachs, 2003). No other country or economy can be compared with these four economies and their globalized position. As a joint bloc, these four economies have worked together and formed a political entity which helps them to grow more and more with the passage of time. Each economy out of four might turn independent and autonomous as a part of the bloc. Armijo argues that these four economies do not have similar challenges and development programs and explains that “the category of the BRIC's is thus, strictly speaking, a mirage,” (Armijo, 2007). However, whether it is an independent economy or as a bloc, they are all the leading economies in the world surpassing all other countries.

The BRIC countries from the year 2000 to 2008 have a combined share of the economic output worldwide which boosted from 10 to 22 percent. All four economies together account for 30 percent of the economy output during this period. However, all these economies show a small ...