2015 will be a year that will test many emerging economies like Brazil, Russia and China. Advanced countries will take measures to revive past growths and try to remain in the race. Low oil prices will lower inflation in many economies but will raise concerns in many others.
With the talks of a New Development Bank in China, BRICS has managed to raise some questions. Will the association of emerging markets manage to create stir in the the global economy or will it be another alliance of economies that just have meetings over nothing. Amidst many criticisms, economies of Brazil and Russia can pose more complication than contribution to the group. But it is definitely too early to completely write off BRICS.
If Brazil has ever suffered from a financial turmoil, it was more of a contagion effect due to 1997 Asian Crisis and 1998 Russian Crisis. It has been considered one of the strongest emerging markets and a large contributor towards global growth. However, things started looking a bit hazy for Brazil since 2008 financial crisis. It was observed that a country that could be a potential contributor to global growth could also pose an equal threat to global financial stability. But before we reach any conclusion for 2014, it is important to look back as to how Brazil evolved as a country and stood strong even when everything around her was in financial turmoil.
On October 30, 2014 Paul Krugman wrote in New York Times ” Japan used to be a cautionary tale, but the rest of us have messed up so badly that it almost looks like a role model instead.” Japan’s economy has been in coma for the past 20 years and its revival has been the focus of many debates and case studies (and many criticisms). With promising reforms like Big Bang and Abenomics, it is important to check whether Japan has overcome some hurdles or whether the reforms proved to be a complete failure.