What is the "BRIC"?...and What Does It Matter?

A nice nutshell profile of "BRIC"... the acronym for the four emerging economies of Brasil, Russia, India and China...from NPR 's Tom Gjelten.
http://www.npr.org/templates/story/story.php?storyId=105504349

The NYTimes reports that: "The four countries produce about 15 percent of the world’s gross domestic product and hold about 40 percent of the gold and hard currency reserves, but they are not a unified bloc and do not do enough business among themselves to justify a trade alliance." http://www.nytimes.com/2009/06/17/world/europe/17bric.html?ref=todayspaper


Plus a more detailed report on the BRIC's recent meeting:
http://www.bloomberg.com/apps/news?pid=20601109&sid=a8strJTaN6Hs

And this...on the proposed use of rubles and yuan ...instead of the USD... on some future trade deals between China and Russia.

http://www.bloomberg.com/apps/news?pid=20601095&sid=aSTmuCr.RD88