As we approach the 12th anniversary of the time I dreamt up the acronym Brics (Brazil, Russia, India and China), and the 10th anniversary when my colleagues and I took our first look at which economies would be the 10 largest in 2050, it is now highly fashionable to regard the whole thing as yet another bubble-type notion.

One analyst popularised another meaning for the acronym: Bloody, Ridiculous Investment Concept. I have also read a respected journalist saying that this year the developed world will contribute more to global gross domestic product than the broader emerging world, and that investors appear to be deserting emerging markets in droves.