As the new millenium dawned, the ‘Anglosphere’ had a seemingly well-established grip over the finances of the world. This financial dominance – vastly out of proportion to the populations of the English-speaking nations – was reflected in military muscle. The dominant USA was considered by all and sundry to be the sole remaining ‘Superpower’: politically, militarily and economically.
It seems so long ago. Yet until 2007, the Old Order remained essentially intact. Since then, what we’ve come to know as the ‘World Financial Crisis’ has been akin to a new deal in a global poker game. As the cards are flipped face up in mid-2009, it’s apparent there’s been a phenomenal shift in world power. New players have joined the table. They’re outclassing former high rollers.
The two graphs below show the top twenty banks in the world by market capitalization, in 1999 and 2009 respectively. The author/s of my source for these graphs also points out that last month, for the first time, China became Brazil’s largest trading partner. Trade with Brazil has long been an indicator of financial power The USA held the No 1 position from the 1930′s; before that, Britain had been the dominant trading partner for several generations.
Dramatic shifts are currently underway – yet there’s no real sign yet that the English-speaking countries intend to put their bloated military spend into reverse and rejoin the rest of the world. If they did, others would be greatly enouraged to do the same. As it is, the rest of the world is likely to view warily the real intentions of nations with a long track record of illegal invasions, imperialism and starting new wars.

