On the desk of Jim O'Neill, chief economist for Goldman Sachs, stand four flimsy flags. They look out of place among the expensive computer terminals of the investment bank's plush London office, like leftovers of a child's geography homework or cheap mementos from backpacking trips to exotic parts of the world. But these flags hint at a more interesting story – of the latest way in which money and ideas are reshaping the world. The small scraps of fabric are pennants for big countries: Brazil, Russia, India and China. And almost a decade ago, O'Neill decided to start thinking of them as a group – which he gave the acronym Bric.
在高盛(Goldman Sachs)首席經濟學家吉姆?奧尼爾(Jim O'Neill)的辦公桌上，擺放著四面普普通通的小旗子。在這家投行豪華的倫敦辦公室里，這些旗子在昂貴的電腦終端中間顯得不合時宜，就像孩子們地理家庭作業的成果，或是背包客從異國他鄉買回的廉價紀念品。但這些旗幟暗示著一個更為有趣的故事——有關資金和觀點重塑世界的最新方式中的故事。這些三角形的旗子代表著四個大國：巴西、俄羅斯、印度和中國。差不多10年前，奧尼爾決定開始將這些國家作為一個整體來考慮——他用“金磚”(Bric) 這個縮略詞來稱呼這些國家。