BRICs and clones

Paul Wharton, chief investment strategist at Deutsche Bank Private Wealth Management UK, explains how the internet revolution has helped EMs emulate the West.

Since the Industrial Revolution of the 18th century, the West has led the world in terms of economic development and wealth creation. On any measure - industrial production, urbanisation, calorie consumption or longevity - Western populations have seen their living standards soar compared with those of non-Western or non-Anglo-Saxon economies. In the same period, more than two-thirds of the world's population has seen living standards stagnate or fall relative to those in the West. This need not have been the case. In the 19th century, Russia was a great European power. China led the ...