Emerging Markets Century ~ van Agtmael's Idea!

Fascinating to read more about Antoine van Agtmael, the investor-banker most-famous for having coined the term "Emerging Markets" as alternative to "Third World" or "Developing Countries". The Economist's Schumpeter writes in An Emerging Challenge that van Agtmael...

"...was uncomfortable with the banking industry’s contempt for the developing world. (One of his bosses at Bankers Trust once told him, “There are no markets outside the United States.”) But he was equally unhappy with the World Bank’s obsession with state-driven development. He became an evangelist for the power of private investment to turbocharge growth. But how could you persuade wary bankers to invest in the third world? He had a eureka moment after making an investment pitch to Salomon Brothers: why not replace the depressing-sounding phrases used to describe poorer countries with the more upbeat “emerging markets”? Almost 30 years later Mr van Agtmael remains as bullish about emerging markets as ever. [...Indeed] just as the West once underestimated the potential of emerging markets, now it underestimates the power of the region’s corporate champions, Mr van Agtmael believes. These companies are no longer content to be mere followers. They have built global brands."

See here van Agtmael speaking on his book titled The Emerging Markets Century...