In January 2017, in terms of globalization and the environment, on this occasion the following 3 aspects stand out from the perspective of important international organizations, this time considering: The Economic Commission for Latin America; the International Accounting Standards Board and the International Financial Reporting Standards Foundation; and the World Economic Forum.
In the first place, the Economic Commission for Latin America (ECLAC) recently published the 2016 version of its annual report "Preliminary Balance of the Economies of Latin America and the Caribbean", highlighting the following in this regard. In the first place, the document indicates that in 2016 the world economy maintained the trend of low growth as it has happened in the last eight years, with a growth rate of 2.2% estimated at the end of 2016, the lowest since the crisis international financial system for the period 2008-2009.
Second, the document indicates that growth projections for 2017 at the world level are estimated in the following behaviors: the world economy is expected to grow around 2.7%; growth of 4.4% is expected for emerging economies, with India being an outstanding performance given that it is estimated to grow by at least 7.7% for 2017, while China is expected to grow to 6.5%; On the other hand, Russia and Brazil are expected to go from negative growth rates in 2016 to positive rates in 2017; In developed economies, the United States is estimated to be the most dynamic for 2017 with an expected growth rate of 1.9%, while the euro area would present a growth rate of 1.7%; in turn, Japan would accelerate to a rate of 0.9% in 2017. And thirdly,Regarding Latin America, this document indicates that for 2017 it is expected that after two consecutive years of contraction (after registering a fall in gross domestic product of -0.5% in 2015 and in 2016 of -1.1%), Latin America and the Caribbean has a modest growth of 1.3%, a context in which South America would rebound with an increase in its GDP of 0.9%, while the Caribbean would grow 1.3% and Central America would expand 3.7% in 2017.
For its part, the International Accounting Standards Board and the International Financial Reporting Standards Foundation (IASB and IFRS Foundation) issued a statement on December 30, highlighting that the members of the IASB met on December 13. and on December 14, and among the main topics addressed in these meetings, among others, were the following:
1) Financial instruments with equity characteristics:
It was mentioned that the IASB analyzes the research project on Financial Instruments with Characteristics of Equity (FICE or Financial Instruments with Characteristics of Equity), and at this meeting the Board discussed how the Gamma approach (method to measure the Value at Risk consistent in the use of quadratic measures to identify the sensitivity of an underlying) would be applied to classify derivatives whose classification according to "IAS 32 on Financial Instruments" has been difficult in practice, arguing about whether a derivative with certain variables would depend solely on the residual amount (estimated amount to be obtained when disposing of the asset, once the expected conditions have been reached at the end of its useful life).
2) Implementation and maintenance of IFRS Standards:
In this regard, the possible modifications to "IAS 19 Employee Benefits" were highlighted, discussing the implications of including "minor events" of the employee benefit plan, that is, events for which the cost of the service or the gains or losses at the time of settlement would not be significant.
3) Activities with regulated rates:
In this regard, the IASB analyzed proposals for a new model for the accounting of "activities with regulated tariffs" (Rate-regulated Activities, which are not in free competition, such as sectors such as energy in some countries), research projects that included a summary of the proposed model for accounting for regulated activities, an explanation of its objective and principles, as well as numerical examples to show how entities would recognize the assets and liabilities of regulated activities.
Finally, for its part, the World Economic Forum on January 2 issued an interesting analysis developed by its founder, Klaus Schwab, entitled "Five leadership priorities for 2017"(Five Leadership Priorities for 2017), highlighting the following in this regard. First of all, leadership is mentioned in managing the fourth industrial revolution, which is redefining entire industries and fostering the creation of new ones due to groundbreaking advances in artificial intelligence, robotics, the Internet of Things, vehicles of self-driving, 3D printing, nanotechnology, biotechnology and quantum computing. Second, Schwab points out the importance of leadership for global governance that represents economic, technological, environmental and social challenges, which can only be solved through public-private collaboration at the global level in a truly multipolar context, to ensure that globalization benefit everyone. In third place,The founder of the World Economic Forum highlights that a third challenge for world leaders in 2017 will be to restore world economic growth, being important to generate billions of jobs to accommodate a growing population that is expected to reach 9.7 thousand million by 2050. Fourth, this analysis mentions the challenge of reforming market capitalism, and restoring the balance between business and society, allowing globalization to continue to improve people's living standards and continue helping many more to get out of poverty, in the pursuit of social welfare for all. Finally to conclude,It is important to generate billions of jobs to accommodate a growing population that is projected to reach 9.7 billion by 2050. Fourth, this analysis mentions the challenge of reforming market capitalism, and restoring the balance between business and society, allowing globalization to continue to improve people's living standards and to continue helping many more to lift themselves out of poverty, in the pursuit of social well-being for all. Finally to conclude,It is important to generate billions of jobs to accommodate a growing population that is projected to reach 9.7 billion by 2050. Fourth, this analysis mentions the challenge of reforming market capitalism, and restoring the balance between business and society, allowing globalization to continue to improve people's living standards and to continue helping many more to lift themselves out of poverty, in the pursuit of social well-being for all. Finally to conclude,allowing globalization to continue to improve people's living standards and to continue helping many more to get out of poverty, in the pursuit of social well-being for all. Finally to conclude,allowing globalization to continue to improve people's living standards and to continue helping many more to get out of poverty, in the pursuit of social well-being for all. Finally to conclude,Schwab highlighted the importance of global leadership in dealing with the widespread crisis in identity formation, which has resulted from the erosion of traditional norms over the past two decades. In this context, Schwab mentions that globalization has made the world smaller but its functioning more complex, and many people have lost trust in institutions, fear for their future, and are in search of shared but differentiated beliefs that can provide a sense of purpose and continuity, in the search for a better future that is not clearly perceived in the short term.
