BRICS at 20

The BRICS at 20
https://www.project-syndicate.org/commentary/20-years-of-brics-has-reshaped-international-affairs-by-brahma-chellaney-2026-09
If the promise of the BRICS was to establish a monetary union, a single market, or a tightly integrated political alliance, it has not been fulfilled. But if it was to build a platform for emerging economies to cooperate while advancing their own strategic autonomy, the BRICS has exceeded expectations.
 
World’s biggest relationship? Xi and Modi look to rebuild ties for 2.8bn people
https://www.ft.com/content/6525cf15-0cf0-4fff-a3a4-298a41569d97
Brics summit expected to bring China’s leader to India for first time in seven years after cautious diplomacy to put bilateral relations back on track. 

US Foreign Policy Blunders

Peru Shows the Limits of Washington’s Anti-China Push
https://www.nytimes.com/2026/09/07/world/americas/peru-trump-china-economy.html
 
Trump’s Neocolonialism Will Backfire
https://www.newyorker.com/news/global-notes/trumps-neocolonialism-will-backfire  
The President is touting his big Venezuelan oil deal, but his interventions abroad are stirring anger and having unintended consequences. 

China and Medical Research

Patients Are Flying to China for the Latest Cancer Treatment
https://www.wsj.com/health/healthcare/patients-are-flying-to-china-for-the-latest-cancer-treatment-528659c3
Shanghai is emerging as a favored destination for patients from America and other rich countries who are seeking innovations in biotechnology. 

Climate Concerns and Economic Development

The Rich World’s Climate Distraction
https://www.wsj.com/opinion/the-rich-worlds-climate-distraction-fe33cf14
The World Bank and other institutions lose their focus on the best ways to help the poor. 

Will Africa Enjoy a Demographic Dividend?

Africa Can’t Afford to Squander Its Demographic Opportunity
https://www.foreignaffairs.com/africa/africa-cant-afford-squander-its-demographic-opportunity
What the Youngest Continent Stands to Gain from Growing Old. 

India's Jobs Crisis

India’s Private University Graduates Are Left Jobless and in Debt
https://www.nytimes.com/2026/08/18/business/india-private-university-debt.html
Families are betting their savings on private universities as a path to a better life. A shortage of well-paying work is turning that wager into frustration.
 
500,000 Applicants, 583 Jobs: The Frantic Scramble for Work in India
https://www.wsj.com/world/india/500-000-applicants-583-jobs-the-frantic-scramble-for-work-in-india-0fefa2b3
Many of the South Asian country’s youth face epic odds in trying to find good jobs, a challenge that is a growing political and economic problem. 

An Urban Oasis

The chief minister of Andhra Pradesh has 25,000 workers building his dream capital with waterways, bike lanes and a “Quantum Valley” tech hub.
https://www.nytimes.com/2026/08/13/world/asia/one-mans-quest-to-build-indias-most-livable-city.html 

Fewer Chinese Studying Abroad

Why ever fewer young Chinese study abroad
https://www.economist.com/china/2026/08/06/why-ever-fewer-young-chinese-study-abroad
Those who do are more likely to return home afterwards. 

Tech Competition - China versus US

The Future, Made in China
https://www.newyorker.com/magazine/2026/08/10/the-future-made-in-china
Beijing is competing with the U.S. for tech supremacy. Who wins will have huge political implications. 

China’s A.I. Is Surging Across Africa. That Should Worry Silicon Valley.
https://www.nytimes.com/2026/08/05/technology/ai-china-africa.html

AI and the Developing World

The Philippines’ big offshoring industry is growing despite AI
https://www.economist.com/asia/2026/08/06/the-philippines-big-offshoring-industry-is-growing-despite-ai
How long will that last?
 
India’s IT sector is surviving artificial intelligence
https://www.economist.com/finance-and-economics/2026/08/06/indias-it-sector-is-surviving-artificial-intelligence
Though the technology is making life still harder for many graduates.

Where A.I. Is Creating Jobs for Humans, for a While
https://www.nytimes.com/2026/08/20/world/asia/ai-jobs-data-annotation-india-karur.html
In the fast-growing field of data annotation, people in a small town in south India are training A.I. to better perform human labor.

Developing countries have ‘less to fear’ from AI than rich nations
https://www.ft.com/content/33c20c4e-6a25-42da-9f1e-6664c8388957
“As a rule, developing economies today have more to gain — and less to fear — from AI than richer ones ... less than a tenth of their jobs are susceptible to AI automation, compared with more than a third in high-income economies,” said Indermit Gill, the bank’s chief economist. 

World Development Report 2026: THE PROMISE OF ARTIFICIAL INTELLIGENCE

https://openknowledge.worldbank.org/bitstreams/4df724a5-2e0d-4e66-bcb8-1d3bf4e22390/download

EM Growth Models Debate

The Limits of Asia’s Two Major Growth Models
https://www.project-syndicate.org/commentary/china-india-development-models-limitations-and-lessons-for-others-by-hinh-t-dinh-and-karim-el-aynaoui-2026-07
Data from a period in which both China and India pursued deliberate industrial policies show that neither country's development route is accessible to other countries. At best, their experience can alert policymakers to structural limitations and coordination problems that will require their own homegrown solutions. 
 
Explaining China’s Industrial Competitiveness
https://www.project-syndicate.org/commentary/china-industrial-competitiveness-root-causes-by-miao-yanliang-2026-07
External headwinds have not weakened China’s manufacturing competitiveness. That is because the Chinese economy combines an unusually large manufacturing base, deep supply chains, fast engineering feedback loops, and cutthroat domestic competition to create global powerhouses. 

China is smarter about subsidies than everybody else
https://www.ft.com/content/871976c7-8c4f-405e-803e-d86cf22bcf0f
Beijing is stealing a march on its competitors by targeting strategic sectors.

International Mystery

The Great Chinese Oil Mystery
https://www.theatlantic.com/economy/2026/07/china-iran-usa-oil-prices/688086/
America’s greatest rival is single-handedly averting a global energy crisis. No one knows how the country is doing it—or why. 

Asia’s New Geopolitical Reality

A Historic Shift is Underway in Asia 
https://www.nytimes.com/2026/07/27/opinion/asia-military-security-china-allies.html

Iran War Forces Energy Buyers to ‘Unshackle’ From Global Markets
https://www.nytimes.com/2026/07/27/business/natural-gas-lng-asia-exposure.html
Developing Asian nations, scarred by Middle East supply shocks, are working to scale back their reliance on imported fuels, including liquefied natural gas.  

Related:
Can Renewables Industrialize Africa?
https://www.foreignaffairs.com/africa/can-renewables-industrialize-africa
The Iran War Is Driving the Continent Toward Chinese-Backed Green Energy. 

Currency Unions and Internal Devaluations

West Africa Needs Its Own Draghi Moment
https://www.project-syndicate.org/commentary/west-african-monetary-union-faces-its-biggest-test-by-fernando-morra-1-and-anahi-wiedenbrug-2026-07
Senegal’s debt crisis has exposed a deeper vulnerability within West Africa’s monetary union. Unable to devalue the shared currency, member countries must either endure painful internal adjustment or boost exports to earn the foreign currency they need to repay external creditors. 

Related:

African countries are souring on the dollar
https://www.economist.com/finance-and-economics/2026/08/06/african-countries-are-souring-on-the-dollar
The yuan and local currencies stand to benefit.

Cost of Eldercare in the Developing World

Poor Countries are Aging Fast but Can’t Keep Up with the Cost
https://www.wsj.com/world/poor-countries-are-aging-fast-but-cant-keep-up-with-the-cost-fd83b1cd
The elderly population is exploding in developing nations like Thailand, where savings and government resources are scant. 

G-2 versus the Rest

Don’t Overestimate America and China’s Importance
https://www.project-syndicate.org/commentary/us-china-limits-of-superpower-influence-and-clout-by-jim-o-neill-2026-07
Some commentators on international affairs seem to think that “the West” and the BRICS+ do not really matter; only the United States and China do. Yet three factors complicate this simplistic framing, suggesting that even superpowers' influence has limits, and that smaller powers can sometimes punch above their weight. 

Brazil – Risks and Opportunities

Brazil faces unforgiving economics after election
https://www.ft.com/content/d47f9b39-9e78-4034-97a2-1ca8e07e27e8
For investors, that is a reason for engagement, not despair. Brazil trades at humbling valuations. It has some of the world’s highest real interest rates and the currency is at near record lows with the real down 70 per cent over the past 15 years despite an 8 per cent bounce over the past year. If it gets the sequence of economic management right — consolidation, disinflation, then building growth — the country is a compelling opportunity. 

US Financial Supremacy

Storm clouds gather over America’s financial supremacy
https://www.economist.com/finance-and-economics/2026/07/12/storm-clouds-gather-over-americas-financial-supremacy
Its payments firms may be the first casualties. 

Related:

https://www.wsj.com/world/americas/trump-brazil-payment-system-pix-097bacaa

China - Economic Challenges and Risks

China’s Two-Speed Economy Pairs High-Tech Success with Domestic Gloom
https://www.wsj.com/world/china/china-economy-tech-property-03444d83
Soaring exports and tech prowess hide a brutal economic picture and a growing army of underemployed workers at home.
 
China’s trade gap is narrowing. And other surprises
https://www.economist.com/finance-and-economics/2026/07/15/chinas-trade-gap-is-narrowing-and-other-surprises
The world’s second-biggest economy is stumbling into fiscal austerity. 

The Worst Form of Trade Protectionism

The payments darling in Trump’s crosshairs
https://www.ft.com/content/efbec9a7-a3d9-45e6-8ade-c0660f31ecc7
US tariff threats against Brazil over payments platform Pix provoke a political storm ahead of elections.