RJ and Makay

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GDP per person is the best indicator of economic progress or regression, according to a recent article in The Economist. It is the value of goods produced per person in a country, equal to the country’s GDP divided by the total number of people in the country. Between 2001 and 2010, the highest annual percentage growth rate of change of GDP per capita occurred in Equatorial Guinea, Azerbaijan and Turkmenistan, at about 13.2%, 13% and 11.5%, respectively.

You'd never expect it because of the economy, but there are actually more billionaires — 199 more, to be exact — than last year.

According to Forbes magazine's annual billionaire headcount, there are now 1,210 billionaires worldwide. The top three on the list are the same as last year: Mexican media mogul Carlos Slim ($74 billion), Microsoft founder Bill Gates ($53 billion), and Investor Warren Buffet ($50 billion). However, all of the list's newcomers are from outside the U.S. and reside mainly in BRIC countries (Brazil, Russia, India and China), reflecting dramatic change in the global economy.

Citigroup economist Willem Buiter is calling it: By 2020, less than nine years from now, the U.S. economy will slip from #1 in the world to #2. By 2050, it'll be #3.

"China should overtake the U.S. to become the largest economy in the world by 2020, then be overtaken by India by 2050," Buiter predicts. Nevertheless, his global economic projections suggest that generally good times are ahead.