We are in the midst of a huge global economic shift. In 1980 Asia was responsible for 7.6% of the world’s output. By 2013 this had risen to 26% ! In 1990, the British economy was 2.5 times larger than China’s. By 2013 China’s economy was 3.5 times larger than Britain’s ! Brazil  overtook Britain in terms of size of economy for a while and is currently the seventh largest economy in the world. So in 2013, for the first time, less than 50% of all economic activity came from advanced economies.

BRIC

So what’s the background to this global economic shift? In 2001 Jim O’Neill, one of the most respected economists in the world, coined the acronym BRIC to highlight what he considered to be the four emerging market economies of the world that would propel the global economy over the coming decades. Brazil, Russia, India and China. He considered them to be the “growth engines” of the global economy now and for the future. There are now many other countries also considered as being contenders as future growth engines.

Brazil’s potential

For example Brazil is currently the second largest BRIC nation. Jim O’Neill points out that the economic facts about Brazil are amazing. It has the fifth greatest population in the world and significantly this is both young and growing. Young means that it has a large pool of workers that can add to the economy.

Mathematically, the greater the size of the population, the greater the possible GDP of the nation. And if the productivity of each working individual can reach the productivity of the bigger economies of the European nations then Brazil will easily overtake them in size of GDP. 2050 projections reveal that Brazil has the potential to grow five times larger than now to almost $10 trillion, wealth currently enjoyed by only the best of the developed nations.

Between 2002 and 2008, the economy of Brazil grew 4% per year. However, since then it has averaged less than 2%. Currently, the nation is facing many economic woes. But it has the capacity to bounce back.

For more information of the global economic shift, see “Preparing for the Economic Storm“.

For a look at what God is saying through the Greek Crisis click here.