The Man Who Coined the BRICS Moniker Remains Its Most Vocal Critic

Russian President Vladimir Putin listens to Iranian President Masoud Pezeshkian speaking via a video link during a BRICS business forum in Moscow on October 18, 2024. Alexander Zemlianichenko / POOL / AFP

It’s been 13 years since Jim O’Neil came up with the BRICS name back when he was an analyst at Goldman Sachs in 2011. Since then, as the bloc has become considerably more prominent, O’Neil has ironically emerged as the group’s most outspoken critic.

Before every major BRICS event, O’Neil consistently re-emerges in the discourse to criticize the group for its lack of effectiveness. Less than a week before the upcoming BRICS summit in Kazan, Russia, O’Neil once again published a scathing critique that contends “the BRICS still don’t matter”:

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by Eric Olander

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