Counting the Cost

Have the BRICS moved the centre of economic and political power?

Representing 45 percent of the world’s population, some of these fast-growing countries have failed to live up to expectations.

Two decades ago, investment bank Goldman Sachs came up with an acronym that was supposed to shift the economic balance of power.

The BRICS – Brazil, Russia, India and China (and South Africa, which was added later) – would, over time, come to dominate the rankings of the world’s richest economies. But 20 years on, the group has failed to live up to its author’s expectations.

Edward Glossop, emerging markets economist at Aberdeen Standard Investments, explains what has gone wrong.

Plus, former World Bank economist Gregory Smith discussed Zambia’s hopes to sort out its debt problems under a new president.

And, Daimler Chairman Ola Kallenius talks about chip shortages.