I am not sure why you posted all of those links that support what I stated, and then tried to argue exactly the opposite. I have never argued that the individual countries that make up BRICS are not doing very, very well. That is why China and America only make up about half of the world GDP. But nothing in any of your links indicates that the organization called BRICS is nothing more than a photo-op, as these countries are doing nothing but fighting each other, certainly there is no co-operation or consensus as to what to do. They would still rather cut each others’ throats than do a co-operative venture. China is the only one pushing some form of common belt-and-road initiative.

And the links regarding China all point to what I said - China is turning towards its domestic market, and is looking to export high value items while switching low-value production to its home market. But even there, the other Asian countries are switching to the low-end consumer goods, and exporting them to China. China’s middle income population, twice the size of the entire American population, is now creating a demand that actually out-strips the capacity of Chinese manufacturing to meet. Put another way, all of the manufacturing capacity that China was using to meet the American demand, is not even close to the capacity needed to meet the Chinese domestic demand. Every toaster that is shipped to the US is one less toaster for a Chinese family, and the Chinese really, really want that toaster.

And you completely missed that part about small scale nuclear reactors, that can be mass produced and are currently in production. Although Europe came late to the game, they are ramping up quickly, thanks to Russia cutting off the flow of cheap energy. Even Germany, that previously swore they would never have nuclear power, is pushing for the switchover. The timeline is 5 to 7 years from now.

https://www.trendingtopics.eu/eu-bets-e200-million-on-small-nuclear-reactors/

Actually, Canada doubled LNG sales out of BC in just one year.

https://shippingmatters.ca/lng-canada-brings-second-train-online-doubling-export-capacity/

And your links to the European manufacturing situation are out of date. The recovery has already started.

https://pluralia.com/en/news/eurozone-manufacturing-recovers/

Nothing new about this, the CBC ombudsman is a joke. His only role is to rule in favor of the CBC content policies, to make it look like the CBC had some oversight against its bias.

CBC has always kept to standard Canadian ‘talking points’ of the major political powers. It definitely does lack in the diversity of opinions that are not shared by the traditional major spokespeople of the traditional parties. If you are not mainstream, you are not on CBC.

In 2014-16, China held $1.3 trillion in US debt. Now it owns less than half of that. Japan owns more American dept than the Chinese do currently. They have leveraged their debt in a controlled manner, to offset the effects of US tariffs. Now instead of getting American dollars for goods that China sells to the US, they just get the American dollars without having to sell anything. Just collect on the bonds as they come due. It is a trick I am sure the other countries, including Canada, have up their sleeves.

Whatever the American population pays in the tariffs (sales tax) on imported goods, the more they have to borrow from the rest of the world. It might LOOK like a windfall for the American treasury, but in the end the American economy just isn’t generating the manufacturing wealth to pay the tax. Eventually, the American companies will revolt against this tax, and demand compensation. That will be even more money the US treasury will have to borrow.

For all the posters worried about American default on bond payments, please note that Americans still own around 75% of the American debt.

Here are the statistics for Europe since 2014, Almost all sectors except automotive are pretty flat. Chemicals were hit by the Russian invasion of Ukraine, but are recovering. The EU is definitely in recovery.

https://www.globaltimes.cn/page/202508/1340956.shtml

Actually, China was getting cheap oil from Iran, but that just changed dramatically. Now, Europe is looking at Canada for future off-oil energy supplies. and is returning to nuclear, but using small scale nuclear reactors. I would hardly say the European relations with China in economics are tense. Human rights, maybe, but Europe has never fallen for the myth of the Chinese abuse of human rights that the Americans have. Europeans are much closer to the source, and can see for themselves.

Unfortunately, the Chinese diaspora to America was made up mostly of dissidents, and they carried a very biased message with them. They are, after all, well, dissidents. There is a far greater flow of average Chinese citizens to Europe, with a very different viewpoint. Italy, for instance.

https://ec.europa.eu/eurostat/statistics-explained/index.php?title=Industrial_production_statistics

And the regularly scheduled trains between China and Europe are expanding.

https://english.www.gov.cn/archive/statistics/202506/21/content_WS6856a81cc6d0868f4e8f384f.html

No, I am not misrepresenting BRICS. It is now a photo-op setup designed to offset the publicity that the G7 gets. In the beginning, it had a purpose - to establish the renminbi as a global currency. That has pretty much fallen by the wayside, as the individual countries proved to be far more loyal to their own currency. and did not want to give up the control of currency from America to China. It also had the purpose of diverting control of other world economic institutions away from America, as you stated, and to alter the global rules to be more favorable to them. Now that America has pretty much abandoned these rules, this purpose has also been met. America has pretty much lost control of the greenback, and I expect within a year or so there will be a greenback exchange outside of America, controlled perhaps by Geneva or even the Cayman Islands, as American money gets very much afraid of the instability in money markets that America presents. World American money wants the greenback to be worth a dollar, not a value negotiable IOU that may or may not be honored that the Republicans are trying to make it.

My bet is on the Euro or some offspring as becoming the next global currency. I think the world now trusts Europe more than they trust America or China, now that Europe is ‘coming of age’ again.

China is quickly losing the reputation of the world manufacturer. China is instead turning to domestic markets. It wants to export high value products like automobiles, airplanes, ships, and machinery. Remember the movie “I, Robot” and the NS5? China is now mass producing the 1.0 version, with legs that work like human legs.

It is actually other East Asian countries that are now the world manufacturer for low to mid value goods. Vietnam is rapidly developing an export market for manufactured goods, in part replacing Chinese goods in our marketplace. Look carefully at the ‘Made in’ notations of current products - they are no longer almost exclusively Chinese.

An interesting take on Europe. The up-and-down manufacturing statistics are almost exclusively in the automotive sector, which has experienced a lot of turmoil related to the supply of fuel. But what will change that is the rail line between China and Europe. This transportation route makes China far more important to Europe for trade than America. And the Nationalist/populist parties in Europe are tame compared to the Republicans in America. They may be dominating the news cycle, but not the direction Europe is going in. Russia pretty much threw cold water on any notion of Europe becoming less integrated. Once they get their energy sector under control, Europe will be okay.

The only thing the BRICS members have in common is their opposition to America as the dominant factor in global economics, and as the decline in America accelerates, the cohesiveness of BRICS will follow.

BRICS is more showmanship than substance. A photo op. India doesn’t have its own act together, never mind trying to work with another country. Frankly, India appears to want to be enemies with other countries, ANY other country, than to work co-cooperatively. Brazil and Saudi Arabia will go whichever direction the wind blows. And speaking of India, I think the nukes in India and Pakistan will prove to be the most unstabling.

I think the Venezuela situation will finally convince Brazil that it needs to start taking a proactive stance in South American politics, and not just stand by and watch America slowly creep southwards.

But my attention is all on Europe. The EU seems to be finally coming together, and the European Union nations can no longer be treated as separate entities, any more than California (same GDP as France) can be considered a separate entity. Actually, is is more likely that California WILL become a separate entity, while France becomes more integrated into the EU. Europe is finally getting over their collective PTSD from the two wars, and is now starting to think about living in the world again, instead of depending on the US for subsistence.

I am not sure who ‘we’ is that is ‘holding the bag’. And I am not sure that you are not still stuck in the last century.

Most knowledgeable people acknowledge that the Chinese economy is closing in, if not already passing, the American economy. But then they assume it is somewhere around a 50-50 split of the world economy. Well, it is not a 50-50 split, it is not even a 40-40 split. It is more like a 25-25 split, with the other 50% divided among, as Carney called them, middle economies. But those middle economies, as Carney also pointed out, (although not directly) control around half of the global GDP, twice as large as either the American or the Chinese economy individually. That is the New World Order. At the end of last century, all of the economic indicator pie charts had America with 80% or better of the charts, the rest of the world 20% or less. Now, America has 30% or less of the same charts, rest of the world 70% or better. The previous ‘Rules’ were all about keeping America on top. Those rules are no longer keeping America on top, so America is ignoring them. America is trying to make the new rules, in order to stay on top, without realizing that America is now far, far from the top, and just is not in any position to enforce these new rules. The rest of the world is ignoring these new American rules just like America is ignoring the old rules. The more they ignore America’s rules and make their own, the more America suffers by the non-enforcement of the American rules. Americans absolutely refuse to play by anyone else’s rules, and so they are just being left out of the game. The rest of the world is getting away with it today, when they could not get away with it last century, because of that 70-30 reversal. America just does not have the economic clout it had last century. Instead, the rest of the world now has that clout. And it is not just about China, it is about every other country. America has no hope of ever being on top again… The house of cards has been tumbling down in America for decades, it was just covered up by false propaganda while the really big money fled the US for greater pastures.

I am not sure if you are following what China is doing, but it is a lesson for all nations. Just a little while ago (20120-2016), it had around $1.3 trillion in American treasury bills. Now it has around half of that. Even Japan has more American debt that China does. In other words, China cashed in the debt holdings as it came due without buying more. That is a lot of money that America gave to China, that China used to offset the impact of American tariffs. Instead of Americans buying Chinese goods and sending money to China, Americans just sent China the money instead, no purchase necessary.

So as America falls, those countries that have driven up their share of the US debt can now follow China’s lead. Take their money out of America by cashing in the bonds without buying more. That is around $3.8 trillion that is flowing out of America without them buying a single thing. At the turn of the century, Americans not buying anything from the rest of the world would have caused economic collapse in those countries. Today, those countries can sell to the rest of the 75% of world GDP without selling a thing to America. That is some cushion.

Carney was not the first, but he was certainly arguably the most influential, world statesman that finally pronounced ‘The King has no Clothes’. When the dust settles, I suspect America will end up splitting in at least two, if not three or more, parts, if history has anything to say about it. Failed states inevitably end up in pieces. Then, countries that are holding US debt can take payment in assets (land), not money. After all, it is these other countries that are now making the rules.

Then one would expect the bond rate to climb, but it is staying relatively constant between 4% and 5%, When it comes to paying for imports of American product, that interest cushions the blow. We end up buying American product with their own money.

Let’s not forget that the interest on this debt is all coming back to Canada, making Canada stronger.