The chief economist of HSBC bank Stephen King recently raised the question in a book of what will happen when the world’s poor become rich.

The answer is obviously great news for the world’s poor, but a mixture of pros and cons for people currently living in the rich world.

He believes the West’s relative power and wealth will decline, as a share of the global pie. But depending on what Westerners’ decide to do about it, their absolute wealth – money in the hand – will either decrease or increase.

In 2008, fear gripped the financial world in the wake of the US sub-prime mortgage crisis. Since then, governments have spent up large to revive their faltering economies.

That revival has largely gone well, with many beginning the year thinking the worst was over. However, since April, fear has returned to financial markets and to governments.

As Japan warms to its fifth Prime Minister in just three years, the economic power house faces serious problems.

These include rising unemployment, deflation and the biggest national debt in the industrialised world – all against a worrying backdrop of an aging and declining population.

New Prime Minister Naoto Kan has warned that Japan faces financial ‘collapse’ similar to that of Greece if the government continues to run at a loss (deficit) and borrow to make up the difference.

Brazil, Russia, India and China – collectively known as the BRICs, or BRIC countries – now feature in almost every conversation about the global economy.

They are often described as the eventual pillars of the world economy and it’s easy to see why.

They are big, together representing around a quarter of the world’s territory and 40% of the world’s population.

Each country has an annual GDP (gross domestic product, meaning total economic output) of over US$1 trillion, far outstripping any other developing country.

We pump our cars (and our oceans) full of it, we fight wars over it and complain about the price of it.

It’s everyone’s nasty little addiction, although we can’t live without it. But how much do we really know about the oil process and where it comes from?

Oil is a hydrocarbon formed from the fossils of plant and animals which have been subjected to immense heat and pressure over millions of years.

In the form of liquid, gas or coal, oil deposits are often found alongside porous rock, non-porous rock and gas.

In 2008, a bank called Grameen America opened its first branch in Queens, New York. This year, it plans to open a branch in Washington DC.

But unlike the banks recently dominating the headlines, Grameen has a clear social agenda – “to alleviate poverty and spur entrepreneurship.”

Since it began, Grameen America has lent over US$5 million to 2,500 borrowers, and maintained a repayment rate of over 99%.

Greece’s potential bankruptcy has resulted in by far the largest cash bailout of any single country in history – €110 billion.

The deal struck on Sunday has angered EU taxpayers, especially Germans who will contribute the largest loan payment.

But Greek citizens are even angrier as they now enter a gloomy period of stinginess and government spending cuts worth €24 billion over the next four years as part of the loan’s conditions.

So why bother saving Greece when it only seems to upset them?

A ‘Credit Default Swap’ is a fairly simple concept hiding behind an overly complicated name – something the finance industry seems to do particularly well.

As a deadly combination of insurance and gambling, it's the financial weapon of mass destruction that nearly brought the world economy to its knees in 2008.

Credit Default Swaps

A credit default swap (CDS) is similar to an insurance agreement.

The economic relationship between America and China is an uneasy one built on mutual dependence. It features a smorgasbord of jobs, investment, debt and cheap goods.

And it’s being tested this week by the Obama administration who is asking China to help them out by revaluing its currency.

But China is reluctant for fear of disrupting its crucial economic progress.

To understand what’s at stake, it’s necessary to look at the various elements of the world’s most intriguing business relationship.

On Friday, European leaders from the 16 countries that use the euro currency announced a back-up plan to provide Greece with money if needed.

The plan involves a compromise of European taxpayers fronting up with most of the cash, with the International Monetary Fund (IMF) – usually preoccupied with poorer countries – providing the rest.