American pacemaker suppliers have become lightning rods for criticism in Japan for charging prices roughly double those back home.

FORBES: Opiate of the masses

Generally posed in natural language, human-asked questions are search engine lightning rods for companies that produce content on the fly.

FORBES: Facebook Searches For Answers, Looks To Google

Vedanta (which did not respond to queries for comments) and its founder Anil Agarwal have been lightning rods in India and abroad.

FORBES: How To Block A Billionaire

The other books on this year's shortlist were Skios by Michael Frayn, England's Lane by Joseph Connolly, Heartbreak Hotel by Deborah Moggach, and Lightning Rods by Helen DeWitt.

BBC: Howard Jacobson

There is no evidence of this yet, but Messrs Hubbard, Lindsey, Bernanke and Feldstein, because of their Republican connections, could all become lightning rods for partisan bickering if they enter broader policy debates.

ECONOMIST: The Federal Reserve

Not for the first time, the IMF and the EU will be cast as lightning-rods for xenophobic anger.

ECONOMIST: The Greek crisis