New Silk Road Economies

Article from Businessweek on emerging markets.

The takeaway? Emerging markets are trading with each other and by-passing the United States, which has traditionally served as the middleman.

For the most part, the reason we were needed in the first place is because of our stable currency, adherence to property rights, financial & logistical infrastructure. I suppose these countries are more comfortable with each other than before and don't need the U.S as an intermediary.

Cutting out the middleman is nothing new.

Arab middlemen controlled the spice trade, and their monopoly allowed them to inflate the prices of cinnamon and pepper for years. It wasn't until an Indian ship went adrift in the Red Sea that the Europeans realized there was an easier route to get all those spices they had been craving.

What fascinated me was the reference to the silk road.

The old silk road is a 3,000 year old trading route connecting the ancient civilizations of China, India, Greece, Egypt, Rome and Persia. The trade route exists even today and has been a part of history for as long as there has really been a recorded history.

Literally millions of people over thousands of years, people who don't speak the same language, people who practice different religions, who would hate one another if they ever met, all working together and united in a common cause. To make the world a better place through the exchange of goods and ideas.


The new silk road would be all the developed countries trading with each other directly. Which is easier today than it has ever been, probably in the history of the world.