BRIC Countries and Their Role in the World Economy

Brazil, Russia, India and China are increasingly becoming significant economies and sources of power in the global world order, and it does not make sense to put them on the same level as other developing countries, such as South Africa or Mexico. These four countries have made important investments in multiple areas, such as infrastructure, governance, domestic institutions, social programs, and production that put them at an advantage compared to emerging countries that are at the beginning stages of development and forward progressiveness. Even at the basic level, the absolute size of these four economies is advantageous and outweighs the others by a considerable amount. …show more content…

Brazil, the largest economy in Latin America, manages to stay ahead of the surrounding developing economies and is another country to keep an eye on for future power and growth. Abundant in natural resources, Brazil is a leader in energy and agribusiness, which will become vital in the future due to growth and demand in other economies. It is the leading exporter in important resources, such as oil, ethanol, iron ore, coffee and soybeans, all of which should play a significant role as commodity prices continue to rise. Despite the increase of commodity prices, Brazil’s economy is not growing as rapidly as predicted. It is the only BRIC country that is not meeting Goldman Sachs predicted growth rates, and Moody’s predicts the real GDP rate to slow down to 5.3% in the next couple years (2010). Although Brazil is not meeting its expected growth rate, their competitive advantage is their resources and it has great potential for the future as the world economy adapts to changes in demand.
The last country in the BRIC bloc, Russia, is an economy of mixed signals. The GDP has been growing by about 7% annually for the past nine years, but other areas like population, health of the citizens, infrastructure, and income distribution are declining or already in poor shape. What makes Russia’s economy