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How an Expansion of BRICS Could Change Global Business
Podcast

How an Expansion of BRICS Could Change Global Business



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9

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  • Analytical
  • Overview
  • Hot Topic

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In January 2024, the BRICS alliance – Brazil, Russia, India, China and South Africa – welcomes Argentina, Egypt, Ethiopia, Iran, Saudi Arabia and the United Arab Emirates into its fold. These additions expand the geographical, economic and political footprint of the coalition. In this informative episode of the Conference Board’s CEO Perspectives podcast, economists Steve Odland, Lori Esposito Murray and Dana Peterson discuss the evolution of the BRICS and the significant impacts the new formation will have on trade, energy and finance.

Summary

The BRICS alliance seeks to disrupt the existing global economic and geopolitical order in trade, currencies and military power.

In 2007, Russian president Vladimir Putin delivered a fiery address at the Munich Security Conference, accusing the US and Western economies of hegemony in the areas of economic, military and geopolitical activities. This speech set in motion the formation of the BRICS alliance – Brazil, Russia, India, China and South Africa. 

These five nations set out to provide a strategic and tactical alternative to the G-7 nations and end the US dollar’s dominance as the world’s reserve currency. The BRICS do not exist as a formal compact or treaty; rather, they operate as a loosely knit association to advance the group’s global interests.

Initially formed in 2009 as a geopolitical...

About the Podcast

Steve Odland is the president and CEO of The Conference Board, Inc., where Dana Peterson is chief economist and Lori Esposito Murray is president of the Committee for Economic Development.