2020 was a year that we will hardly forget: obviously due to Covid, which has overwhelmed and upset the lives of billions of people around the world, but not only. Although it was not easy, because even a "no" vintage can be very full of events (negative and positive, as always), we have tried to draw up a top ten of salient Italian and international facts, which was not exclusively linked to the virus, which unfortunately has been the leitmotif of all these last 12 months. Here is our selection, in no particular order (some events cannot be traced back to a precise date) and also proposing some of our articles.
BREXIT: THE UNITED KINGDOM GOODBYE TO THE EU
It's one of the latest news, after the agreement signed just at Christmas, but in reality the divorce between the United Kingdom and the European Union was already officially consummated on January 31st of this year. Europe therefore returns to having 27 Member States, after only 7 years in which it was at 28 (since 2013 with the entry of Croatia). The United Kingdom leaves after almost 40 years: it joined in 1973 together with Denmark and Ireland. The laborious final agreement, which finds a compromise on free trade (there will be no duties on goods and collaboration on crime and terrorism will continue), enters into force on 1 January 2021.
COVID PANDEMIC: HISTORICAL COLLAPSE FOR THE BAGS
In February, the world was overwhelmed by the coronavirus, which to this day continues to cause infections, victims and economic difficulties. On the financial side, there is one moment that should be remembered perhaps more than all the others: from February 24 to 28, world stock markets reported their largest weekly drop since the 2008 financial crisis. Not only that: just before, on 19 February NASDAQ and S&P 500 had reached their all-time highs. On March 12, the first day of lockdown in Italy, Piazza Affari lost 16,92%, the worst performance ever in a single session (after Lehman Brothers lost 8%).
GREEN LIGHT TO THE RECOVERY FUND, THE LARGEST EUROPEAN AID PLAN
The European response to the crisis triggered by Covid has been unprecedented in scope. In July the member countries they found agreement (later formalized in the December European Council) to activate the Next Generation Eu extraordinary aid plan (which we simplify with the Recovery Fund). A sort of new Marshall Plan which will make 27 billion euros available to the 750 member countries (390 billion in grants, 360 billion in loans). Italy will be able to count on 81,4 billion in grants and 127,4 billion in loans, for a total of over 200 billion.
INTESA SANPAOLO-UBI BANCA, THE SECOND EUROPEAN BANK IS BORN
In February, lightning strikes the Italian banking world and beyond. Surprisingly, Intesa Sanpaolo, the first Italian bank by number of customers, launch an Ops on Ubi Banca. The operation receives the ok from the competent authorities, above all Consob and the ECB, and takes place in the summer, when the participation of UBI shareholders exceeds 90%. In October Ubi Banca completes the definitive delisting from the Ftse Mib. Thus was born the second European credit group by capitalization (second only to Bnp Paribas and ahead of Santander), the sixth by operating result and the eighth by total assets.
GEORGE FLOYD AND BLACK LIVES MATTER
Unfortunately, 2020 was marked by the strong social tensions that exploded in the United States in the spring, following the killing in May of an African American citizen, George Floyd, by two police officers. The murder has sparked protests and mobilizations against racism in every corner of the planet. A movement was organized under the name of Black Lives Matter, influencing the political debate in the following months and probably resulting in the electoral defeat of Donald Trump. From the BLM was also born More Than A Vote, a movement promoted by basketball star LeBron James, who helped raise funds to finance polling stations in the most remote and disadvantaged places in America.
BEZOS IS THE FIRST MAN EVER TO EXCEED 200 BILLION IN ASSETS
There is someone in the world who has even managed to get rich with Covid, and quite a lot. It is actually very few people, and among these Jeff Bezos undoubtedly stands out, founder of Amazon and richest man on the planet since 2017, when according to Forbes calculations he had ousted Bill Gates (who invited him to lunch to congratulate him) . However, the news of 2020 is that, thanks to the pandemic that literally and definitively blew up e-commerce, Amazon's business has gone booming and Bezos' personal assets have increased by over 70 billion since the beginning of the pandemic , reaching in the summer the incredible threshold of 200 billion.
REFERENDUM CUT PARLIAMENTARIES, THE YES WINS
An epochal turning point also in the politics of our house: following the referendum wanted at all costs by the 5 Star Movement e approved by 70% of Italians called to the polls on 20-21 September, the Italian Parliament will have many fewer members from the next legislature. To be precise, the constitutional reform law that has come into force provides for the cut of 36,5% of the members of both houses of Parliament: from 630 to 400 seats in the Chamber of Deputies, from 315 to 200 elective seats in the Senate. The turnout was 51% of those entitled, but the consultation did not require a quorum to be effective.
ELON MUSK CONQUERS SPACE
If 2020 reminded us of how precarious life on Earth can be, it was also the year of the boom in space missions. Not only China and the US have launched two missions to Mars practically simultaneously, which will finally be able to find out if it is possible to organize life forms on the Red Planet. In the meantime, however, that genius Elon Musk said that he will reach Mars by 2024 and within 20 years he will be able to build a city there. Meanwhile, this year his Space X was there first private company to send humans to the International Space Station, and also the first to be certified to make this route a tourist route not only for astronauts. A revolution in our way of seeing the universe and of living outside our planet as well.
JOE BIDEN WINS THE AMERICAN PRESIDENTIAL ELECTION
Many hoped so, and despite the infinite resistance of outgoing President Donald Trump, the White House has changed tenants. The official handover will only take place in the new year, in January, but in the meantime, on November 3, the American people decreed the victory of the Democratic candidate Joe Biden, in ticket with the deputy designate Kamala Harris. A turning point awaited by half the world: this was in fact the most awaited electoral session of the year globally, so much so that Time magazine decreed Biden and Harris as People of the Year. The dem candidate imposed himself without a shadow of a doubt, collecting even more votes than Obama (of which he was deputy), in a very attended election despite the Covid.
HERE COMES THE ANTI-COVID VACCINE
It is the most awaited news of the year and also the one that risked not entering a top ten in 2020, but being postponed to 2021. Instead, in extremis, just before Christmas in Europe but already earlier in the United States, it arrived the green light for the first anti-Covid vaccines. A sigh of relief for all mankind. In Italy the first doses of Pfizer Biontech serum, the first a receive the ok from the EU, arrived immediately after Christmas, and the vaccination campaign started on Sunday 27 December, which in the Government's intentions will have to cover a large part of the population by the end of 2021. V-Day was a common initiative at European level : vaccinations started in all member countries on the same day, symbolically.
