trends to note Economic and political outlook in and around the world BITCOIN SEEKS RECOGNITION FROM U.S. GAAP n ACCORDING TO A JULY 2017 REPORT in Thomson Reuters Tax & Accounting News, the US Financial Accounting Standards Board (FASB) is conducting early stage research about developing an accounting standard for digital currencies and the underpinning technology. With the use of digital currency increasing, inconsistent accounting practices are becoming a challenge. The report said that FASB as the standard-setter for US GAAP plans to discuss whether to add a project to its agenda at a public meeting, a FASB spokesperson said, but that the timing had not been set yet. The report said that the accounting board’s examination of digital currency follows a request from the Digital Chamber of Commerce, a trade group representing the blockchain industry, to clear up accounting questions related to the growing digital currency market. In a 8 June 2017 letter, the group called on the FASB to create guidance to address recognition and measurement of digital currency. Perianne Boring, founder and CEO of the group said this was a “mission- critical” issue. n OECD COUNTRIES COULD ADD around USD2 trillion to their total gross domestic product (GDP) in the long run if the employment rate for workers aged over 55 was equal to best-performing EU country Sweden, according to PwC economists. The PwC Golden Age Index is a weighted average of indicators – including employment, earnings and training – that reflect the labour market impact of workers aged over 55 in 34 OECD countries. Between 2015 and 2035, the number of people aged 55 and above GOLDEN CONTRIBUTIONS in high-income (OECD) countries is estimated to grow by almost 50% to around 538 million.” Rapid population ageing puts significant financial pressure on healthcare and pension systems. To offset these higher costs, older workers should be encouraged and enabled to remain working longer to increase GDP, consumer spending power and tax revenues. The potential long-term GDP boost from older workers varies significantly across countries, from around 1% in Korea and 2% in Japan to around 16% in Greece. Given its size, the US has the largest potential absolute gain of around USD0.5 trillion (around 3% of GDP). 8 ACCOUNTANTS TODAY | JULY / AUG 2017