The Best Business Writing 2012

April 2, 2012
The current economic environment has been characterized by extreme financial turmoil, rapid change, and severe violations of public trust, all of which have created a heyday for the global press. In what will become an annual exercise to showcase the most insightful coverage from this fertile era, the editors of the Columbia Journalism Review have selected those pieces deemed the most compelling or rigorous business writings of the year. Drawing from newspapers as varied as the New York Times and Milwaukee Journal-Sentinel, magazines ranging from Fortune to Rolling Stone, and blogs such as the Huffington Post and Motley Fool, this compendium represents a riveting cross-section of hard-hitting investigative journalism, press criticism, and even a hilarious piece on phone hacking by English actor Hugh Grant. While many pieces focus on the financial meltdown—including Michael Hudson’s damning account of how Countrywide protected fraudsters—others present poignant examinations of the intersection of business failure and humanity, like Raquel Rutledge and Rick Barrett’s award-winning piece, “A Case of Shattered Trust,” which describes a child’s preventable death caused by bacteria-laden products from a firm under investigation by the FDA. The breadth, depth, and quality of writing are sure to engage a diversity of readers regardless of their affiliations with economics or finance. Agent: Deirdre Mullane, Mullane Literary.

May 15, 2012

This first annual collection from Columbia University Press presents 31 of the best English-language writings on business, finance, and economics from magazines, newspapers, blogs, tape recordings, filmed interviews, radio shows, and even a movie. The editors, including Starkman (editor, Columbia Journalism Review), believe that "ignorance about matters business and financial is no longer an option." They include a brief history of business writing, touching on Business Week in 1929, Fortune in 1930, and the Wall Street Journal in 1941, and organize the articles in sections called "Bad Business," "Financial Systems and Discontents," "Over There" (e.g., foreign countries), "Politics and Money," "The Big Picture" (e.g., food, patents, law schools), and "Corporate Stories." These exposes and critiques cover companies like Pfizer, Ikea, Countrywide Financial, and coal company Massey Energy; CEOs such as Bill Ford Jr., Warren Buffett, and Steve Jobs; institutions including the SEC, FBI, and U.S. Department of the Treasury; and issues such as taxes, lobbying, etc. VERDICT For business-interested readers, this book presents revealing, and sometimes shocking, investigations. The lack of an index is a flaw.--Joanne B. Conrad, Geneseo, NY

Copyright 2012 Library Journal, LLC Used with permission.

July 1, 2012
In an unprecedented decade of outstanding business journalism, this anthology contains what the editors consider to be among the best writing on business, economics, and finance from 2011, representing the good, the bad, and the ugly. It includes articles from some of the foremost writers in newspapers, magazines, and blogs published in the Washington Post, the New York Times, the Guardian, Reuters, Fortune, the Motley Fool, and Fast Company, to name a few. Great journalism is highlighted in significant stories, including an article from the Pulitzer Prizewinning series in ProPublica about Merrill Lynch execs earning bonuses despite securities losses. Warren Buffet's memorable column exposing unfair tax breaks for the superrich, including himself, is an eye-opener. Also included are stories on phone hacking by the British press, including one amusing account of how actor Hugh Grant turned the tables on a reporter. Whether readers are familiar with some of the news stories or not, this collection exposes behaviorsboth good and badalong with their impacts, and leaves readers with much to think about.(Reprinted with permission of Booklist, copyright 2012, American Library Association.)