There is no better book for country-by-country accounts of emerging markets (and riskier ones called frontier markets). Its strong point is the author’s reliance on grassroots experience in each country, avoiding statistical charts.
Sharma, the head of Morgan Stanley's Emerging Markets division, takes readers on a lively tour across five continents as he explores the factors behind the next economic powerhouses. Analyzing a smorgasbord of indicators—from income levels, to the number of billionaires in a country, to the pronouncements of local politicians—Sharma stresses that the nations poised to be the next big thing in the global marketplace are not the just usual suspects like China, Russia, and India. Instead, they are smaller countries that are making quiet, unheralded progress before the rest of the world catches on. The Czech Republic and Poland benefit from low levels of debt, strong political systems, and conservative businesses communities, as does South Korea, a perennial innovator. Turkey gets a nod for its efforts to bring its poorer areas in line with wealthier urban enclaves, and others like Indonesia and Nigeria have notable potential. But Sharma also offers cautionary advice, courtesy of former Bank of England adviser Charles Goodhart's law: "once an economic indicator gets too popular, it loses its predictive value." Accessible to newbies and revelatory for veterans, Sharma's observations upend conventional wisdom regarding what it takes to succeed in the relentlessly competitive global marketplace. Photos & maps. (Apr.)
"At the core of this impressive book is the counter-intuitive argument that the boom of the mid-2000s was a blip in the long historical trend for emerging economies and that the next decade may be one of decelerating. In Sharma’s view, the much-hyped decline of the West and emergence of the rest may take a lot longer than optimists would like to believe."
"[A] country-by-country tour de force of what makes emerging markets tick. He is an excellent writer with a keen eye for detail and a lyrical prose sense... As with Michael Lewis’ Boomerang on the European crisis, for sheer readability and insight on the various parts of the ongoing emerging drama I daresay you won’t find a better choice."
Wall Street Journal - Jon Anderson
"Breakout Nations is basically an investors lonely planet guide to the world for the new century."
Bloomberg "On the Economy"
"This week’s Book of the Week is, Breakout Nations by Ruchir Sharma, one of the world’s leading emerging market investors. This is the best book on global economic trends I’ve read in a while."
"Mr. Sharma’s intent is to help you find the best places around the world to invest, emphasizing that it will take some work on your part."
"... it’s refreshing to read Breakout Nations , Ruchir Sharma’s book on the Bric countries—Brazil, Russia, India, China—and the rest of the developing world... [H]is book offers a careful view that has little truck with forecasts of the relentless Bric-led rise of the emerging world."
"Breakout Nations works best as a compilation of highly illuminating country vignettes—similar, say, to Michael Lewis' Boomerang ... As with Mr. Lewis' work on the European crisis, for sheer readability and insight on the various parts of the ongoing developing world drama, I dare say you won't find a better choice."
Wall Street Journal - Jonathan Anderson
"This is among the best books to understand the emerging world and its positive and negative aspects. Sharma matches the brilliance of Thomas L Friedman, author of the widely cited The World is Flat ."
"A primer to guide us... this is a great road-map to the new and better-balanced world in which we will all live, and an encouraging one."
"There is no better book for country-by-country accounts of emerging markets (and riskier ones called frontier markets). Its strong point is the author’s reliance on grassroots experience in each country, avoiding statistical charts."
"It is really the focus of economic attention around the world. It is a whole new look at which economies are going to be winners and which are going to be losers."
"Breakout Nations is basically an investors lonely planet guide to the world for the new century."
Bloomberg "On the Economy"
Managing director and head of emerging markets equity at Morgan Stanley, Sharma is responsible for figuring out what nations will break out next. Apparently not China, whose booming growth rate will have to go bust, which will suppress the promising economies of countries like Russia and Brazil. But Bangladesh, Nigeria, Poland, and Turkey look good to go. Information-packed and fun, too, with Sharma pondering the meaning of a $17 Bellini. For all smart readers.
For economic policy wonks or anyone interested in the ever changing global economy, listening to this fascinating examination of emerging markets—which nations are poised to rise or fall, and why—will be a delight. Sharma's vast experience in Morgan Stanley's Emerging Markets Division and his extensive travel in developing markets provides a broad view of global economic trends and fascinating interpretations of the issues facing developing nations. Alan Sklar's balanced and authoritative tone lends credence to the author's arguments as Sklar adroitly takes the listener globe-trotting with Sharma. Sklar's steady pace helps listeners keep abreast of the myriad anecdotes and information, although the reading of a chart near the end of the book loses the value of that found in the print version. M.L.R. © AudioFile 2012, Portland, Maine
SEPTEMBER 2012 - AudioFile
The head of Morgan Stanley's emerging markets division conducts a brisk worldwide tour in search of new markets ready for takeoff. No first-book jitters for Sharma, longtime columnist for the likes of Newsweek and the Wall Street Journal. His smooth, almost chummy style suits him ideally for guiding civilians through the sometimes-arcane thicket of the dismal science, looking for those emerging markets likely to disappoint or exceed expectations in the coming years. Sharma insists on the importance of on-the-ground observations, and he's recently visited all the countries discussed here. While recognizing that factors explaining growth change continually, he divulges some helpful, broad rules of the road. We learn, for example, why a particular nation's form of government counts less than the economic understanding and vision of its leaders, why the size and growth of a nation's second city is important and why the list of top-ten billionaires matters. He offers informed speculation on why Russia's Putin may have outlived his usefulness, why Sri Lanka, the Philippines, even Nigeria may finally be headed in the right direction, why Mexico continues to underperform, why Poland and the Czech Republic find themselves in the "sweet spot" of Europe, why the coming slowdown in China will feel like a recession and why Indonesia's new "efficient corruption" counts as an improvement over the old way of doing business. Sharma drills down even further, noticing and explaining the significance of the price of a hotel room in Rio, a single electromagnetic railroad in China, the road conditions in Vietnam, the decibel level of late-night revelry in a Turkish club, the popularity of Korean soap operas, jammed traffic in Jakarta or dangerous street crime in Johannesburg. Confining his predictions to the near future, Sharma refreshingly comes across as that rare thing Harry Truman once sought: a "one-handed economist" willing to stake his reputation without resort to "on the other hand" equivocation. For investors looking to place their bets and for general readers looking to understand the global economic landscape in the wake of the Great Recession.
