The much-hyped idea—forget a launch—about a gold-backed BRICS currency has died without a whimper for now. As the economic bloc, comprising Brazil, Russia, India, China and South Africa, concluded its 15th summit in Johannesburg on Thursday, introducing a currency to counter the dollar wasn’t even on the agenda. From an informal club created as BRIC—an acronym coined by then-Goldman Sachs chief economist Jim O’Neill considering the economic potential of Brazil, Russia, India and China in 2001—at Russia’s initiation in 2009, the grouping has come a long way. The bloc accounts for more than 40 per cent of the world population...