Last week, Daryl Morey, the general manager of the NBA’s Houston Rockets, tweeted “Fight for Freedom. Stand with Hong Kong” in support of Hong Kong citizen protests against mainland China. These seemingly harmless seven words created a political firestorm within the world’s premier basketball league that shows that the NBA’s highly publicized and proud commitment to social justice, freedom, and equality is largely abandoned when such principles affect their bottom line.  

There have been many theories about the fate of Jimmy Hoffa, the longtime president of the International Brotherhood of Teamsters, since he disappeared in 1975. Many involve Charles “Chuckie” O’Brien, Hoffa’s aide and Goldsmith’s stepfather. In this compelling investigation-cum-memoir, Goldsmith, Henry L. Shattuck Professor of Law at Harvard University and author of Terror Presidency and Power and Constraint, recounts how his childhood affection for O’Brien became more complicated as he pursued a legal career. Then, with the perspective he gained from serving as assistant attorney general under George W. Bush, Goldsmith was moved to uncover the truth about O’Brien, Hoffa, the mob, the waning of labor’s power, and the rise of the surveillance state.

Weak domestic demand is hurting growth, but more investment could lead to a rebound.

Despite slowly waning GDP and employment growth, and frequent financial market volatility stemming from slowing global growth and the “As the World Turns” trade negotiations between the U.S. and China, most economists at last week’s National Association of Business Economists (NABE) meeting in Denver were sanguine about the prospects for the U.S. economy.