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Rounding Up the Year

As economies imploded, unemployment soared, companies went bust, and so-called experts threw up their hands and admitted they hadn't a clue, one could be forgiven for thinking that 2008 was unremittingly bleak. Not so. Though it's ending on a sour note, the year had plenty of highs that round out the lows. For a reminder, kick back with this BusinessWeek list of the best and worst in just about everything—from global economics and sports to design and entertainment, from advertising and food to medicine and efforts to go green.

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