The Templars at War
Religion, politics and sex are not fit subjects of conversation for a dinner party, an old saying has it. To add sparkle to my blog – which today deals with PIGS, BRICS and taxes – I have ensured they are all alluded to in this post.
The imagination of financial market participants is often captured by absurdly named arbitrary groupings. PIGS is one of them. Portugal, Italy, Greece and Spain are all very different countries, even in their debt levels, deficits and economic capacity.
BRICs is another misnomer. Coined in 2001 by Goldman Sachs to stand for the high-growth emerging economies of Brazil, Russia, India and China, the thesis is that by 2050 their combined economies could be larger than those of the current richest countries of the world.