# You've heard of the BRICs. Say hello to the MINTs. **URL:** \ **Category:** Miscellaneous and Personal Stuff I Must Share\ **Created:** [November 14, 2013, 12:16am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/youve-heard-of-the-brics-say-hello-to-the-mints/673871 "2013-11-14T00:16:09Z")\ **Posts on this page:** 7\ **Page:** 1
**Author:** ![deltasigma](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/d/e5b9ba/32.png) [@deltasigma](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/deltasigma)\ **Post date:** [November 14, 2013, 12:16am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/youve-heard-of-the-brics-say-hello-to-the-mints/673871/1 "2013-11-14T00:16:09Z")
If you like your jargon as much as I do, you’ve got to keep up with those wacky Wall Street types. > [@](#): > > In a new [column for Bloomberg View](http://www.bloomberg.com/news/2013-11-12/who-you-calling-a-bric-.html), O’Neill presents a new potential investment destination: the “MINT” economies (emphasis added): > > > [@](#): > > > > I spent last week in Indonesia, working on a series for BBC Radio about four of the world’s most populous non-BRIC emerging economies. The BRIC countries – Brazil, Russia, India and China – are already closely watched. The group I’m studying for this project – let’s call them the MINT economies – deserve no less attention. \*\*Mexico, Indonesia, Nigeria and Turkey all have very favorable demographics for at least the next 20 years, and their economic prospects are interesting. > > \*\* [Source](http://www.businessinsider.com/jim-oneill-presents-the-mint-economies-2013-11) ---
**Author:** ![SpoilerVirgin](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/s/4491bb/32.png) [@SpoilerVirgin](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/SpoilerVirgin)\ **Post date:** [November 14, 2013, 1:20am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/youve-heard-of-the-brics-say-hello-to-the-mints/673871/2 "2013-11-14T01:20:51Z")
Today I was working on something that referenced the MUSH market, which a little research revealed to be municipalities, universities, schools, hospitals. ---
**Author:** ![bibliophage](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/bibliophage/32/7615_2.png) [@bibliophage](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/bibliophage)\ **Post date:** [November 14, 2013, 5:25am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/youve-heard-of-the-brics-say-hello-to-the-mints/673871/3 "2013-11-14T05:25:55Z")
The BRIC countries make sense as a grouping because they’re the four biggest economies that aren’t already part of the OECD. I can’t quite figure what the four MINT countries are supposed to have in common. Two of them (Turkey and Mexico) are already in the OECD, and Indonesia is an up-and-comer. However, Nigeria seems out of place on any such list. It has a much smaller economy than the others. If you exclude the OECD countries and the BRIC countries, Nigeria has only the 13th biggest economy, behind Indonesia, Saudi Arabia, Iran, Argentina, Taiwan, South Africa, The UAE, Venezuela, Colombia, Thailand, Malaysia, and Singapore. ---
**Author:** ![Alba](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/a/ea666f/32.png) [@Alba](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Alba)\ **Post date:** [November 14, 2013, 7:01am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/youve-heard-of-the-brics-say-hello-to-the-mints/673871/4 "2013-11-14T07:01:52Z")
The article states that the countries have in common “very favourable demographics for at least the next 20 years”. The Nigerian populations is 168 million. I have read several articles that estimate the population to grow substantially in the coming decades and, as opposed to most developed nations, the population will consist of young people. Furthermore, in the coming years Nigeria will allow companies to drill their gas reserves, which are among the highest in the world and bigger than their oil reserves. Corruption has already dropped and they are trying to kerb it further. ---
**Author:** ![iamthewalrus\_3](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/i/258eb7/32.png) [@iamthewalrus\_3](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/iamthewalrus_3)\ **Post date:** [November 14, 2013, 7:13pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/youve-heard-of-the-brics-say-hello-to-the-mints/673871/5 "2013-11-14T19:13:35Z")
Plus they have all those millionaires who die and leave behind massive fortunes to be claimed. That’s got to spur some kind of economic growth. ---
**Author:** ![China\_Guy](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/c/779978/32.png) [@China\_Guy](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/China_Guy)\ **Post date:** [November 16, 2013, 5:35am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/youve-heard-of-the-brics-say-hello-to-the-mints/673871/6 "2013-11-16T05:35:13Z")
Just as an aside, Jim O’Neil is an arrogant shit head and a dickwad. I met him once when we were colleagues at Swiss Bank Corp and he came to Tokyo on a biz trip. circa 1993 or 94. Didn’t even think he was that good of an economist but Goldies evidently disagreed. ---
**Author:** ![deltasigma](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/d/e5b9ba/32.png) [@deltasigma](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/deltasigma)\ **Post date:** [November 16, 2013, 5:55am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/youve-heard-of-the-brics-say-hello-to-the-mints/673871/7 "2013-11-16T05:55:07Z")
Europe seems to be getting the most capital inflows in recent months. Emerging market currencies have been sucking ass since the taper talk started in May. That seems to include all of the MINTs with the sole exception of Nigeria and marginally Mexico. So I hope he isn’t planning on this catching on anytime soon.