Goldman Sachs

First came the booming economies. Then came the rush of investors. Now the so-called BRIC nations -- Brazil, Russia, India and China -- are talking about forming a political alliance.

What am I bid on financial sector losses from the US subprime mortgage crisis? Do I have advances on the $100bn suggested by Ben Bernanke, chairman of the Federal Reserve, only last July? Yes, I now have $500bn from the gentlemen from Goldman Sachs. Any advances on $500bn? Yes, I have $1,000bn-$2,000bn from Nouriel Roubini of New York University’s Stern School of Business. Any advances? Going, going, gone.

Bric - another acronym every silicon.com reader should be aware of and, no, it's nothing to do with Microsoft or operating systems. It actually stands for Brazil, Russia, India, and China and was coined by the investment bank Goldman Sachs when they published a report titled Dreaming of Brics in 2003. The report was essentially some controlled future gazing, based on economic fundamentals and projections right out to 2050.

Credit flowing to American companies is drying up at a pace not seen in decades, threatening the creation of new jobs and the expansion of businesses, while intensifying worries that the economy may be headed for recession. The combined value of two major sources of credit - outstanding commercial and industrial bank loans, and short-term loans known as commercial paper - peaked at about $3.3 trillion in August, according to data from the Federal Reserve. By mid-November, such credit was down to $3 trillion, a drop of nearly 9 percent.

Wall Street bankers are flocking to the Middle East, and it's not for oil or the balmy weather. Years of raging energy prices have made the states surrounding the Persian Gulf one of the fastest-growing regions and a source of immense wealth seeking investments at home and around the world. The sovereign investment arms of Saudi Arabia, Bahrain, Qatar, United Arab Emirates, Oman and Kuwait have an estimated $1.5 trillion at their disposal.

The Zionist lobby is so powerful, Petras argues, it “calls the shots” and “supports the escalation of the Iraq war and the savaging of Palestine, Somalia and Afghanistan.”