Governance Capacities in the BRICS. Sustainable Governance Indicators

Summary:

The rapid rate at which the emerging economies of Brazil, Russia, India, China and South Africa have in recent years been closing the gap with the developed world has been breath-taking. The popular BRICS acronym referring to these rising powers has in the last decade come to signify the major shifts underway in global economic and political relations. Yet those who assume that the patterns of growth observed in the last 20 years will continue unabated should bear in mind that the BRICS states face considerable obstacles to their individual paths of development. These obstacles include the threat of political and social instability arising from extreme social inequality and rampant corruption, as well as problems caused by an inadequate infrastructure unable to keep apace of the rapid economic growth seen in recent years. Further obstacles include massive environmental problems and the weight of demographic pressures on labor markets and education and social welfare systems.

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