2023-08-22 14:34:02
A stroke of genius or a stroke of luck. In November 2001, Jim O’Neill, economist for the American investment bank Goldman Sachs, published a note highlighting four « major emerging market economies” which take up more and more space. Brazil, Russia, India and especially China, whose initials form the acronym Bric. According to the economist, they are set to grow exponentially.
Integrating the Brics into the G7
“We estimate that in 2002 China’s real GDP will grow by 7%”predicts Jim O’Neill in his report entitled « Build Better Global Economic BRICs » (“Building a better global economy, with the Brics”). The Briton recommends taking these countries more into account, giving them a greater place in global decisions. “China particularly deserves to be in the ‘G7 club’, and in some scenarios others too – certainly Brazil, Russia and India”then advocates the economist.
In 2006, the countries mentioned by Jim O’Neill came together for the first time for a summit, concretizing the idea of the Briton. Five years later, South Africa joins them and adds the S initial of its name in English (South Africa) to form the acronym Brics.
“That South Africa is considered a Bric does not make sense to mehowever judge Jim O’Neill, a few months after the accession of this new member. But if we consider it as the representative of the African continent, it’s another story. »
After the Brics, the Mints and the Mikts
Since this note from Jim O’Neill, the predictions of the banker at Goldman Sachs have partly come true. In particular, China’s growth has increased beyond expectations. In 2002, the GDP of the Middle Kingdom increased by more than 9%. Between 2001 and 2010, Chinese growth never fell below 8.5%.
Building on the success of his early work, Jim O’Neill repeated the experience in 2011 by presenting Goldman Sachs clients with a new group of countries with promising economies: the Mikts, an acronym for Mexico, Indonesia, South Korea (K for Korea in English) and Türkiye. In 2014, the economist slightly modified his shot at the microphone of the BBC to which he revealed the countries which according to him will be “the next economic giants. » Jim O’Neill still includes Mexico, Indonesia and Turkey but replaces South Korea with Nigeria, thus forming the Mint.
These new attempts will not have the same echo. But Jim O’Neill, or « Mister Brics », as his colleagues quickly nicknamed him, was able to count on the success of his first coup to accelerate his career. In 2010, he was named president of the asset management division of Goldman Sachs.
In this newly created position, the economist manages more than $800 billion in assets while remaining faithful to his “global perspective on world markets”. In 2015, he became commercial secretary to the British Treasury at the request of Prime Minister David Cameron. The economist now sits in the House of Lords, the upper house of the United Kingdom’s Parliament.
Marketing stunt and performative discourse?
According to some observers, these concepts created by Jim O’Neill would only be marketing stunts, intended to inspire investors. Several economists see this as an example of the performativity of the discourse: the announcement, by an investment bank of the rank of Goldman Sachs, of the strong economic potential of certain countries may have encouraged investors and contributed to their growth and emergence. fast.
In 2006, five years after Jim O’Neill’s note, Credit Suisse and UBS announced that they had placed more than 6 billion Swiss francs (about 6.25 billion euros) in “Bric” funds. Predictive or not, the Brics concept continues to be taught all over the world.
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