Skip Navigation
Derek Thompson

Derek Thompson - Derek Thompson is a senior editor at The Atlantic, where he oversees business coverage for the website.
More

He is a visiting research fellow at the Committee for a Responsible Federal Budget at the New America Foundation. Derek has also written for Slate, BusinessWeek, and the Daily Beast. He has appeared as a guest on radio and television networks, including NPR, the BBC, CNBC, and MSNBC.
« Previous Thompson | Next Thompson » Email Email Print Print

The 10 Biggest Ideas of the Year

By Derek Thompson

Dec 14 2011, 2:30 PM ET Comment

Atlantic writers survey the biggest stories on their beats See full coverage

Three years after the peak of the Great Recession, 2011 was a year of Great Confrontation. The "Arab Street" against the despots. Weak Europe against strong Europe. The House of Representatives against the White House. The global 99 percent against the global 1 percent.

When we studied the year's biggest stories to glean the year's biggest ideas, the theme of confrontation and juxtaposition was fresh in our brains. Maybe that's why our 10 final ideas emerged in tandem, spanning entertainment, political scandal (Women Are Funny vs. Men Are Pigs) culture, and technology (Institutional Failure vs. the Do-It-Yourself Revolution). Here are the ideas of the year:



Presented by

More at The Atlantic

Oops! Now You Can Track the Tweets Politicians Tried to Delete Now You Can Track the Tweets Politicians Tried to Delete
Aretha Franklin's Platinum Year Aretha Franklin's Platinum Year
Visit Afghanistan's 'Little America,' and See the Folly of For-Profit War The Folly of For-Profit War
The Youthful Magic of 'Moonrise Kingdom' The Youthful Magic of 'Moonrise Kingdom'
A Blow, but a Softer One, to the Defense of Marriage Act A Blow to the Defense of Marriage Act

Join the Discussion

After you comment, click Post. If you’re not already logged in you will be asked to log in or register.
blog comments powered by Disqus

Correspondents

View All Correspondents

The Biggest Story in Photos

Afghanistan: May 2012

Jun 1, 2012

Subscribe Now

SAVE 59%! 10 issues JUST $2.45 PER COPY

Facebook

Newsletters

Sign up to receive our free newsletters

(sample)

(sample)

(sample)

(sample)

(sample)

(sample)