The EconomistDecember 21st 2019 The world this year 92 It’s all humbug I tell you!
Two years in the making, the
report into Russian meddling
in American politics was at last
completed by Robert Mueller.
Donald Trump’s critics were
disappointed by a lack of evi-
dence tying him to the Russian
provocateurs. After all the fuss
over the Mueller report, it was
Mr Trump’s request to Volody-
myr Zelensky, the Ukrainian
president, to “do us a favour”
and dig up dirt on the Bidens
that led to impeachment
proceedings. Mr Zelensky won
office by trouncing Petro
Poroshenko in an election.
Some of the runners in the
Democratic presidential race
fell before reaching the first
hurdle. Kamala Harris, one of
the early favourites, pulled out
after spending all her money.In VenezuelaJuan Guaidó, the
leader of the opposition-con-
trolled national assembly,
proclaimed himself interimpresident,declaringNicolás
Maduro’sregimetobeillegiti-
mate.MrGuaidówasrecog-
nisedby 60 WesternandLatin
Americancountries,butMr
Maduroclingsontopower.Dead as a doornail
Iran moved further away from
the deal limiting its nuclear
activities, saying it would no
longer abide by the agreement
unless the euprovided it with
economic aid. Attacks on
commercial shipping and
Saudi oil installations were
blamed on Iran. America sent
more troops and weapons to
the region to deter Tehran.Long-awaited ipos from a host
of tech unicorns turned out to
be damp squibs, mostly. Uber’s
was the biggest. Its share price
went into reverse and is now
some 30% lower than on its
first day of trading. A spectac-
ular fiasco at WeWorksaw it
pulling its ipoand being res-
cued by SoftBank. SaudiAramco’sipotook place in
Riyadh. It was the world’s
largest ever, raising $25.6bn.Among the year’s big take-
overs, Occidental, supported
by Warren Buffett, acquired
Anadarkofor $55bn. AbbVie
issued one of the biggest-ever
bond offers to finance its $83bn
purchaseofAllergan. Andthe
LondonStockExchange
strucka $27bndealtobuy
Refinitiv.FiatChryslerand
Peugeotagreedtomerge,after
a proposedtieupbetweenFiat
andRenaulthittheskids.Boiled with her own pudding
In January Theresa May’s hap-
less government lost a crucial
vote on her Brexitwithdrawal
agreement in the House of
Commons by 230 votes, the
largest government defeat on
record. It went downhill from
there. Three requests were
made to extend the Brexit
deadline, and Britain still
remained in the eu.Mrs May crawled on as prime
minister until July. Her re-
placement, Boris Johnson,
sparked a constitutional crisis
when he prorogued Parlia-
mentin order to limit opposi-
tion manoeuvring on Brexit,
but the Supreme Court said
this was unlawful. Fed up
Britons trekked to the polls for
yet another election, and gave
the Conservatives their biggest
majority in 32 years. Mr John-
son took this as a mandate to
“get Brexit done”.Argentina’spresidential
election brought the Peronists
back to power, when Alberto 1