THE CENTERS OF ECONOMIC INFLUENCE AMID THE TRANSFORMATION OF THE REGIONAL DEVELOPMENT IN THE GLOBAL ECONOMIC SYSTEM

Abstract

It is substantiated that the transformation of the regional development in the global economic system is determined by the actions of the world economy leaders, primarily at the state, regional, transregional, and global levels. The transformation is manifested in the changes of the main actors, their relations, i.e. the modifications in the power of the leading countries, regional blocs, as well as the alterations in the relations between them, which shape the next stage of the world economy development and the prospects for a new transformation. It is revealed that the centers of economic influence in the global economic system are the states, regional groups, transregional coalitions that are able to impact the course of economic processes progression. At the end of the 20th century the leading actors of the world economy are the US, the EU, Japan. However, the system shifts in the global economy in the beginning of the 21st century, the global crisis and the introduction of the latest technologies under the influence of the Fourth Industrial Revolution resulted in the contradictory course of globalization and the formation of the new centers of economic power, the key one among which is China. The goal of the paper is to analyze the dynamics of the nominal GDP of the USA, China, the EU, BRICS, as well as the dynamics of their GDP share in the world GDP between 1970 and 2023. To achieve the goal, various methods have been used, including those of the experts’ assessments, comparative, statistical, graphic analysis, etc. The data for the analysis is taken from the official site of the UNCTAD. During 1970-2023, the US increased its GDP production 25.48 times; China - 191.88; the EU - 24.01; the BRICS countries - 40.24 times. The total share of the GDP of the USA and the EU in the world GDP reached its maximum of 53.91% in the 1990s. Between 1970 and 2023, the share of the US GDP in the world GDP decreased by 5.31%, the share of the EU dropped by 4.87%, while that of China increased by 14.21%, and that of the BRICS group grew by 5.85%. The dynamics of the ratio of China's GDP share in the world GDP to the total share of the US and EU GDP in the world GDP shows that China has been catching up with the USA and EU. The US GDP accounts for about a quarter of the world's GDP: in the 1970s, it was more than a third, while in the 2000s, it reached almost a third again.