With the Indian stock market experiencing a strong bull rally, Mukesh Ambani has edged ahead of Carlos Slim Helu and Bill Gates to become the richest man in the world. While to some extent the volatility of the Indian stock market means that this new wealth is only as long as it's paper trail, in other ways it speaks volumes about the new economy that is starting to form from the ashes of American prosperity.
As of today, only two Americans are in the top five on the rich list. And this could very well be a marker of things to come.
Over the past five years economists have been quietly murmuring about the economic potentials of countries like China and India. China with a population of 1.3 billion and India of 1.1 billion have -thanks to a shortening of the digital divide and an expanding global economy- managed to break away from parallel histories of poverty, famine and political instability to find themselves in a unique position.
Global production lines, flexible innovation cycles, all the things that business majors have been learning about for the past ten years are suddenly coming into play. And this makes China and India's large populations a blessing, not a burden.
What happens when two largest populations in the world get into second gear is anyone's guess. But if today is any indication, a few more super powers are rising out of the "Third World".
