O’Neill’s BRICs Risk Hitting Wall Threatening G-20 Growth

Even Jim O’Neill is asking whether the BRICs need reinforcing 11 years after he coined the term to describe the world’s future powerhouse economies.

O’Neill, chairman of Goldman Sachs Asset Management, says his thesis that Brazil, Russia, India and China would together increasingly buoy the global economy faces “a more challenging test” as investors dump the countries’ stocks. China pared its growth target to the lowest since 2004, Standard & Poor’s may cut India’s investment-grade credit rating, Brazil is on pace to expand less than 3 percent for a second straight year and falling oil prices may hurt Russia.