A breakout success, our anthology of the year's best business investigative writing includes provocative essays on the ongoing collapse of American middle-class jobs under the weight of maximizing shareholder values ( Washington Post); the underground networks of financial exchange that insulate Russia from diplomatic consequences and real economic pain ( New York Times); the shady practices and libertarian ethos of the new Silicon Valley ( Frankfurter Allgemeine, London Review of Books); and the implications of Sheryl Sandberg's Lean-In ( The Baffler), the most talked about career-advice book of the year.

Additional articles cover London's long history of embracing corrupt foreign money ( Vanity Fair); the crimes and misadventures of the young founder of Silk Road, the wildly successful online illegal goods site known as the "Ebay of vice" ( Rolling Stone); the secret dealings of an elite Wall Street society ( New York); the real failings of the Fed during the 2008 economic crisis ( The Atlantic); the PIMCO fund controversy ( Wall Street Journal); the brilliant campaign behind J. Crew's brand transformation ( Fast Company); the decline of the funeral business ( Philadelphia); the political plans of the Koch brothers ( The New Yorker); the Amazon tax fight (Fortune); and the science of junk food ( New York Times Magazine).

Contributors include:Russell BrandGregg EasterbrookJesse EisingerSusan FaludiBen JudahLucy KellawayDavid KushnerJane MayerEvgeny MorozovMatthew O'BrienKevin RooseRebecca SolnitAshlee VanceJia Lynn Yang