The first official G8 Summit of the leaders of the richest and most powerful countries was held. Before this it was G7 (and G6 even earlier) until Russia joined the group for this summit.

The WTO conference in Seattle was protested by thousands of people which eventually led to the collapse of the conference.

The first ever World Social Forum happened as a platform for countries not included in the G8.

Over 200,000 people attended protests in Genoa, Italy during the G8 conference.

Developing countries walked out of the WTO conference when it became clear that the real agenda was to expand the failed WTO model. Lee Hyung Kae, leader of the Korean Federation of Advanced Farmers Association sacrificed himself to protest the WTO.

In the U.S., the sub-prime mortgage crises, triggers a global financial crisis. Tax payers, and therefore poor people, were forced to rescue the banks and other financial institutions in the form of government bailouts. Six months later, these institutions were once again profitable and paying out millions of dollars in bonuses to the executives who brought the crash on in the first place.