BRICS, the acronym for a group formed by the counties of Brazil, Russia, India, China, and South Africa, has been touted as an anti-Western alliance with the power to usher in new world order. Sergei Guriev argues it is nothing of the sort.  The Economics Power of BRICSUnder its new iteration, the BRICS+ group makes up approximately 32% of global GDP, compared with the G7 which makes up 30% of global GDP. How meaningful are these comparisons, and do these metrics translate into economic power – the ability to influence the direction of the global economy?These comparisons are based on purchasing power parity (PPP) rather than GDP in market prices. E.g., in market prices G7 accounts for 45% of world GDP rather than 30% (based on PPP) – thus way ahead of the share of BRICS with or without new members. Total GDP in PPP represents how much the national income can buy domestically; it may p…

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