BRICS

BRICS

1. Characteristics

   • They are primarily an investment category now, although there may some political and economic alliances that develop from that grouping.
   • The BRICS members are all developing or newly industrialised countries, but they are distinguished by their large, fast-growing economies and significant influence on regional and global affairs.

2. consequences

   • Their 45% share in the global labour force illustrates the enormous potential of the BRIC countries
   • China will become the largest economy of the world within two decades
   • GDP per capita still remains substantially below that of Europe and the US
   • It will take more than a few decades before these countries can be expected to be at par with Europe or the US.
   • The economic structure of the BRIC countries is characteristic for less developed countries with a large share of people employed in agriculture and only a small share in services.

3. challenges ahead

   • the BRICS idea could argue that exchanging information and learning about each other was enough.
   • Now, the bar lies considerably higher, and anything but a smoothly operating bank by mid-2016 would be considered a failure.