David Cameron’s cynical attack on ‘skivers’ will hurt the strivers as well

Those in work are finding their pay and conditions squeezed because employers know they can be replaced

Blackwell’s next chapter is in employees’ hands as firm moves back into black

Academic bookshop chain looks to adopt John Lewis model after turning a profit in 2014 for first time in a decade

Cowboys and Indies review – a sweeping overview of the music industry

Gareth Murphy’s tantalising history of the record industry tries to cover too much ground, writes Kitty Empire

Book downloads down, hardbacks are back

Waterstones and Foyles are reporting the rare example of a groundbreaking technology being supplanted by its predecessor

Why would Mark Zuckerberg recommend The End of Power?

Steven Poole: The Facebook founder has made an intriguing choice of tome to launch his online book club. He’ll find it a reassuring read

‘We need permanent revolution’: how Thomas Piketty became 2014’s most influential thinker

The French economist tells Owen Jones about his extraordinary year – including his sudden rise to stardom and his battles to defend his ideas

Grocery rhymes: how poetry has flourished in supermarket aisles

After a couple of students used a sonnet to take a swipe at Tesco, Kathryn Bromwich looks back at the often strained relationship between poets and superstores

Obama and family go buy the books to support Small Business Saturday

Shopping trip with Sasha and Malia a nod to the importance of supporting small businesses

‘Young women need female role models to inspire success’

Former managing director of Penguin, Helen Fraser, discusses which women inspired her to achieve

How using the word ‘how’ could get you sued

Corporate consultant Dov Seidman is suing the yoghurt manufacturer Chobani over its new slogan, ‘How matters’, which he says is ‘the foundation of my entire philosophy’

The Rich: From Slaves to Super Yachts review – a witty, readable and informative history

Kwasi Kwarteng enjoys John Kampfner’s sweeping, salutary survey of the wealthy down the ages

George Osborne: the Austerity Chancellor review – a biography far too in love with its subject

Janan Ganesh’s fawning account of the rise of George Osborne is too blinded by his achievements to grapple with less pleasant facts, writes Chris Mullin

Nick Davies’s hacking book makes FT/McKinsey award shortlist

£30,000 prize on offer for best of six

How to Speak Money review – John Lanchester on the language of lucre

John Lanchester’s study of financial jargon tackles the Laffer Curve and Vix Index with Johnsonian attention and wit, writes Tim Adams

Richard Branson: Never do anything that discredits the brand

The Virgin founder on the lessons of turning failure into success, the ice-bucket challenge and space travel. Interview by Alex Clark