Brazil needs to get rich before it gets old.

The much-discussed midlife crisis of the BRICS (Brazil, Russia, India, China, and South Africa), so widely discussed behind the scenes at the 2014 World Economic Forum in Davos, Switzerland, should do more than just evoke humor regarding the difficulties faced by emerging economies amidst the global crisis; it should prompt an important reflection: the United States and Western European nations became wealthy before they aged. This phrase alludes to the fact that they successfully capitalized on the so-called demographic bonus to achieve high levels of income and development.

If it weren't for this bonus (the phase in which the majority of the population is in the economically active age range), the prolonged global crisis would have done far more damage to their economy. Therefore, they were saved in time, considering the most recent prospects that are beginning to emerge towards a new, albeit moderate, flow of growth.

The BRICS, in turn, continued to grow during the crisis because they knew how to adopt counter-cyclical measures and also because they have great potential for economic expansion. Only the process of social inclusion, as occurred in Brazil, which preceded the 2008 crash and continued in the following years, guaranteed a few more percentage points in the annual variation of GDP. Furthermore, our country is experiencing the very beginning of its demographic bonus, which should last for two decades. This is an important factor.

We need to seize this rare moment in the population pyramid to become, as has already happened with North Americans and Europeans, a high-income economy and a developed nation. We cannot, under any circumstances, waste such an opportunity. To miss it would mean growing old without getting rich, and that would be absolutely disastrous. Thus, regardless of the vicissitudes of the other BRICS countries, we cannot afford, even jokingly, to get lost in philosophical questions, existential dilemmas, and identity crises about the direction of our economy. We need to get down to work and pursue the development agenda.

And it requires specific measures, such as the resumption of credit, which is currently scarce after a period of ample availability. Stimulating foreign direct investment is also crucial. Brazil is still eighth in this world ranking, which is commendable. However, it was once seventh, and has been losing positions, particularly since the second half of 2013. In other words, the government must signal to the world, with transparency, that it is firmly committed to fiscal responsibility, inflation control, and legal certainty.

These are the factors that have most heightened investors' skepticism regarding our country's prospects. It's no longer comfortable, and has become embarrassing, to harp on the worn-out themes of structural reforms, which have stubbornly remained forgotten for almost three decades. However, we cannot ignore the need for a surge in productivity, innovation, and competitiveness, without which we will underutilize our blessed demographic bonus.

We have done many things right in this 21st century, especially the creation of a significant consumer market through the socioeconomic advancement of approximately 50 million people. Any setback could lead the country to an aging population without wealth, a lethal equation for the future.