(1) Central bankers are the most powerful people on the planet -- and that can be a good thing.
(2) For all the attention paid to weekly, monthly, and quarterly data, the pace of America's economic recovery has been thermostatically even for the last two years.
(3) Private equity is good for American business, but not always good for American workers.
(4) Mario Draghi is the person of the year.
(5) Houses are cool again.
(6) China is weaker than we thought, but stronger than we feared.
(7) An energy revolution in the U.S. is burgeoning, but energy independence is still a myth.
(8) The Facebook Rule: Hype doesn't guarantee a successful IPO; and a failed IPO doesn't guarantee a failed company.
(9) The Romney Rule: Don't condescend half the country. Especially if you're next job requires 51% of their vote.
(10) The U.S. government is like the world's worst bomb-defuser ... and it builds all the bombs it has to defuse.
There's your executive summary. On to the business stories of 2012.
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