Has the Brics bubble burst?

Brazil, Russia, India, China and South Africa seem to be failing to justify predictions of 21st century domination

The political crisis in Brazil over economic mismanagement and high-level corruption, likely to come to a head next week, has reinforced the fashionable view, popular among western governments and businesses, that the Brics bubble has burst.

Members of the exclusive Brics club of leading developing countries - Brazil, Russia, India, China and South Africa - are failing to justify predictions that, separately and together, they will dominate the 21st century world, or so the argument goes.