The Year In Business: The 7 Stories That Affected You Most

It's safe to call 2011 the Year of the Economic Headline: Between debt ceiling debates, the crisis in the Euro Zone, and battles over tax rates, money issues filled the front pages. But for all the airtime and eyeballs these stories commanded, it wasn't always clear how they impacted your bottom line.

With that in mind, we put together our picks for the seven 2011 news stories that most directly affected your wallet -- and will continue to do so in the coming year. As these big money issues showed, the economy is never further away than the next paycheck or visit to the grocery store.

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Bruce Watson is a senior features writer for DailyFinance. You can reach him by e-mail at bruce.watson@teamaol.com, or follow him on Twitter at @bruce1971.