| Chapter 2: | The Economic Discourse Of Globalization |
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The Discourse of Economic Success: The BRICS Nations
The current global economic growth leaders are the BRICS nations. Goldman Sachs’ chief economist coined the term in 2001 to refer to Brazil, Russia, India, and China, countries that collectively contain over 25% of the world’s land mass and 40% of its population (figure 3). South Africa joined the list in early 2011. Its inclusion in this elite group of nations is discussed in the case study in chapter 3, which examines political, economic, and cultural issues associated with South Africa as host nation of the 2010 World Cup. Lately, the designation BRICS has been used more generically to indicate a shift in services, manufacturing, and trade away from established economic powers toward developing ones.
India, to use Friedman’s example, serves as a case in point. When it achieved independence from Great Britain in 1947, the literacy rate was 17% and life expectancy was 32.5 years, compared to 61% and 65.13 years in 2010 (Central Intelligence Agency [CIA], 2010). After independence,