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On the Unchartered Territory Podcast, Dan Astin-Gregory and Sam X discussed globalisation, deglobalisation, centralisation, decentralisation and localisation.

They began by discussing the global shift that appears to be on the horizon with the formation of BRICS.  BRICS may be something that we have become aware of in recent years as it has gained momentum, but it was started by Goldman Sachs decades ago to “reshape the global economy.”

In the video above Sam explained that the term “BRICS” was coined a couple of decades ago by Jim O’Neill who was the Chief Economist at Goldman Sachs.

They talked about a move away from the dominance of America, Sam said, “They even painted in investment vehicles around this very name and the idea potential for BRICS currency … The theory being that [ ] what these inside bankers were looking at was that the empiristic nature of the American Empire was becoming too obvious.”

To commemorate the 150^th anniversary of Goldman Sachs’ founding in 1869, the company published a series of articles.  One of the articles titled ‘With GS Research Report, “BRICs” Are Born’ stated:

In 2001, Goldman Sachs’ Global Investment Research Division publishes the report, “Build Better Global Economic BRICs,” coining the acronym for the four countries that would reshape the world economy – Brazil, Russia, India and China.

Other BRICs-oriented research would follow from Goldman Sachs in the ensuing years, including 2003’s paper, “Dreaming with BRICs: The Path to 2050,” which posited that the BRICs countries could overtake the largest Western economies by the year 2039.

By the middle of the decade, numerous BRICs-themed mutual funds, ETFs [exchange-traded funds] and indexes were created to track this distinct group of emerging economies. The first annual BRIC Summit took place in 2009 in Yekaterinburg, Russia, bringing together leaders of the BRIC countries to discuss policy issues and common challenges. The following year, the group voted to invite South Africa to join, cementing the acronym BRICS.

In 2014, the BRICS Development Bank was established in an agreement signed during the sixth annual BRICS summit in Fortaleza, Brazil. Since renamed New Development Bank (NDB) and headquartered in Shanghai, the institution’s goal is to mobilise resources for infrastructure and sustainable development projects in BRICS and other emerging market and developing countries.

By shining a research spotlight on a select group of emerging economies poised to become the next global growth powerhouses, Goldman Sachs helped both investors and companies frame their thinking and decisions based on a shifting global economic power dynamic. Beyond that, the “BRICs” concept triggered cooperation and collaboration among policymakers in these diverse countries on issues ranging from agriculture, trade, and environmental policies to national security and international finance.

With GS Research Report, “BRICs” Are Born, Goldman Sachs

Interestingly, O’Neill was quoted a few days ago as criticising the expansion drive of the BRICS nations.  The same article noted that O’Neill coined the acronym MINT (Mexico, Indonesia, Nigeria, and Turkey) in 2013.

When asked his thoughts on a common currency for the BRICS nations, O’Neill responded: “It is a ridiculous idea. You will need to have an independent central bank to achieve that. There is no way that India and China would ever agree to an independent central bank or even a joint central bank.”

In a global system, the former Chief Economist at Goldman Sachs doesn’t think BRICS is going to have any global power: “If you want to make the global system truly representative, in my opinion, the G20 is close to being the most legitimate thing we have, because it already has 80 per cent of GDP half of the world’s population … I don’t think the BRICS group is likely going to have any global power. If you really want to truly solve global issues, you need to have the important countries and the most important emerging countries with you,” he said.

Read more: O’Neill: BRICS’ Countries Expanding Not Logical, Disappointing, This Day, 20 September 2023

A lot of empires, such as the British Empire or the American Empire, have the same power brokers standing over them, Sam said.  “Rome never falls. It just moves location and goes underground.” He works on the theory that the power brokers are the three City States: the City of London, the Vatican and Washington D.C.

“So, I think potentially, what we’re looking at [with BRICS] is actually the passage of moving. And it’s looking like an organic shift and it’s looking like a break of all structures – but actually, my thesis is, the deglobalisation and this shift to other countries are part of the agenda.”

“A lot of people are championing what’s happening in these [BRICS] countries in terms of the media reports, alternative media, but that’s not what I’m hearing from aware people on the ground there.”

Further reading:

• Three Corporations run the world: City of London, Washington DC and Vatican City, Sihala Net, 31 May 2014
• The Many Sovereign City-States: Vatican City, City of London & Westminster, DC, UN (New York City), CERN, Monaco, Geneva, Singapore and the World, Governmental Services Corporation Watch, 30 June 2017
• Building an Empire – The City of London, The Exposé, 8 September 2021

Featured image: Former Chief Economist at Goldman Sachs, Jim O’Neill, coined the acronym BRICs (Brazil, Russia, India, China) in 2001, and in 2010, South Africa was admitted into the group which made it BRICS (bottom left).  Source: This Day