Are BRICs the Foundation of Tomorrow?

The BRIC was a concept coined by the global investment banking and securities firm, Goldman Sachs back in the October of 2001 as published in Dreaming With BRICs: The Path to 2050. The paper through extensive research, affirms that by the mid-21^st century, the economies of Brazil, Russia, India and China could become the dominant world powers replacing many of today’s wealthiest states.

If the findings of the publication, which have been investigated and asserted numerous times over the years, prove to be correct, the BRICs which currently comprise only about 15% of the G6, will surpass their wealth by about 2040, making Japan and the United States the only enduring members. Furthermore, China will overtake the US shortly after, the BRICs will become the world’s dominant consumers, and the dynamics of fiscal dominance will change for the largest economies may not be the richest per capita (overpopulation in China, India etc.).

These changes, as dramatic as they seem, are very possible especially considering the changing face of the planet over just the past 50 to 100 years as Britain fell from centuries of supremacy, replaced by a short-lived USSR and continuing United States. Yet these specific outcomes pivot around several uncertain patterns and choices on the part of the BRIC nations. Furthermore, about a century ago, economists predicted their own version of today’s BRICs with Argentina, Russia, Austria-Hungary and the US becoming the world’s largest economies. Investment in these nations rose just as it is today and initial years forecasted success. Yet as the new millennium approached, the United States was the only one left standing as Argentina fell to dormancy, and Russia and Austria-Hungary ceased to exist (as they previously did).

Nonetheless, with the exception of World War III or a similar global meltdown, the BRICs remain on track with Goldman Sachs’ predictions and have grown astonishingly. Foreign investment in these nations has been at its highest with 34 Brazilian, six Russian, eight Indian and sixteen Chinese companies listed on the NYSE (this doesn’t even include technology companies listed on the Nasdaq). Though, we cannot decisively say what the future holds, Brazil, Russia, India and China will undoubtedly play a vital role as world leaders if not superpowers.