The combination of size and speed brings economies of scale, boosted further by the route through Strasbourg to Germany opened last summer, and the new high-speed Eurostar link to London.

ECONOMIST: Face value

Once the shining start of the Latin American economies, Brazil is now at stall speed.

FORBES: Brazil's Star Power Dims, Economic Growth Weaker Than U.S.

Economies that grow with great speed naturally throw off a lot of taxable revenues that make deficit spending for governments a snap.

FORBES: A Gold Standard Would Be Great, But It's Not a Deficit Cure

The new boss wants to speed the process up and introduce new voting rules to boost the power of emerging economies.

ECONOMIST: Dominique Strauss-Kahn is the new boss.

China's 1.3 billion people and unmatched economies of scale can bring new technologies to market fast -- in "China time" -- at a speed that is virtually impossible anywhere else in the world.

CNN: Coal-burning CEO: U.S., China must fight pollution