Sound Logo Two Windows

THE BRICS

THE CHANGING FACE OF WORLD POWER

(The Rise of Brazil, Russia, India and China)

Aired on BBC World Service Radio, Autumn 2005

The year is 2050, and the leaders of the world's six biggest economies, the G-6, are posing for the traditional "class photo." Eyes roll when the president of the United States elbows her way past her Brazilian, Russian and Japanese counterparts to squeeze between the leaders of the world's economic powerhouses, China and India: years after America fell behind its more populous rivals, its leaders and its people still have a hard time accepting that they are no longer the centre of the world!

This is a scenario painted, not by fiction writers or anti-capitalist activists, but by that most capitalist of financial institutions, Goldman Sachs. And, though 2050 may feel a long way off, Goldman Sachs economists say the changes are beginning to happen now. The "BRICs" are on the rise.

In a four-part documentary series for the BBC World Service, producer Vicki Barker and presenter Peter Day (left)try to map this future world, where global fashion trends may be shaped, not in Paris and New York, but in Mumbai or Sao Paolo; where European countries, their major industries defunct, may be little more than vacation destinations for wealthy Chinese and Indian tourists...

A world where the US is no longer the world's only superpower.

Presenter: Peter Day. Executive Producer: Vicki Barker. Producers: Tara Gadomski (London), Thierry Ogier (Brazil), Dasha Pushkova (Russia), Shyam Sunder (India). Broadcast Assistants: Martin Stabe, Tanvi Manglik.

The BRICS: The Changing Face of World Power: