Balance of Power...

Here's a fascinating chart of historical Gross Domestic Product (GDP) for the nine “Great Powers”, back to the year 1 AD, and projected forward to 2050 (using a projection from Price Waterhouse Coopers).  Note that the timescale is non-linear, so be careful interpreting the trends.  The biggest surprise for me was India, pre-1800 – I don't know much about India's history, I guess.  As usual, click to enlarge...