This acronym, apparently coined in 2009 by Robert Ward of the Economist Intelligence Unit, stands for Colombia, Indonesia, Vietnam, Egypt, Turkey and South Africa, the next tier of fast-expanding economies recommended to investors in search of windfall profits. (It's not just a catchy nickname; the civet is a cat that secretes a valuable fluid used in perfume production.) This latest set of players join the BRICs (for Brazil, India, Russia and China), still in the ascendant, although the term was coined by Goldman Sachs as long ago as 2001. Newer interpretations include BRICK (with South Korea), BRIMC or BRICM (adding Mexico), BRICA (plus Gulf Arab states) or BRICET (plus Eastern Europe and Turkey), while some forecasters are beginning to promote Eurasia, the Turkic bloc, and even the New Silk Road, for the Turkey-China zone. One umbrella term that has recently lost its lustre, for obvious reasons, is PIGS, for Portugal, Ireland, Greece and Spain.
Send your buzzwords, jargon and new and exotic usages to tony.thorne@kcl.ac.uk.
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