A year ago, Brazil, Russia, India and China were the darlings of the world economy. Today, Brazil is barely growing, Russia is struggling and India and China are on course for their lowest growth in a decade. Although they are as different as they are similar, all four of the original Bric countries have contrived to stumble simultaneously. The lessons are that microeconomics can matter as much as macroeconomics – and that belonging to a prestigious economic club is hazardous.
一年前,巴西、俄羅斯、印度和中國還是世界經濟的寵兒。如今,巴西經濟增長近乎停滯,俄羅斯苦苦掙扎,印度和中國也將迎來十年最低的增長率。盡管它們相互之間的差異之大一點都不亞于它們的相似程度,但“金磚國家”(Brics)中的四個原始成員都同時絆了跟頭。從中可以得到兩點教訓:微觀經濟與宏觀經濟同樣重要,以及加入一個顯赫的經濟俱樂部是有危險的。