The BT 50 index

Click here to enlarge

Emerging economies: On a strong wicket

Click here to enlarge

There have been two important shifts in the growth dynamic of the global economy.

The first is that growth in global activity over the past five years has been dominated by the emerging and developing economies-Brazil, China, India and Russia account for almost half the global growth, and all the emerging and developing economies together for about two-thirds, compared to about one-half in the 1970s.