Harold Pollack

My take on today’s events. @HillaryClinton will easily win nomination. So important for Clinton folks to respect+embrace @BernieSanders folk, in many ways Dem future. — Harold Pollack (@haroldpollack) February 20, 2016 Time for Clinton campaign to turn most of its firepower on the Republicans and to help Democrats down-ticket who will really matter in November. […]

I built my first website from scratch last month on WordPress. The site is called fiduciarystandard.info. I thought it was pretty nifty. It features an entertaining Big Short-like video that seeks to explain the importance of the fiduciary standard. It looks great on an iPhone. I hope you have a look. Despite/because of the site’s wonderfulness, […]

Last week’s ABC mini-series chronicled Bernard Madoff’s $50 billion Ponzi scheme, which so devastated wealthy individuals and major institutions within the American Jewish community. I’m still taken aback by Madoff’s icy lack of communal conscience or apparent self-limitation. He wiped out Elie Wiesel’s life savings, and stole $15 million from Wiesel’s foundation. Madoff stole from […]

At last night’s debate, Hillary Clinton took more fire about her lucrative speech gigs. I wonder if Clinton should own it in a different way: It’s part of the comedy of my life that people are willing to pay $300,000 to hear me deliver a speech over lunch or whatever. Is this a bit ridiculous? […]

How does racial inequality manifest itself in today’s America? What does this mean for the future of American democracy? On Tuesday, January 26, Stanford’s Center for Advanced Study in the Behavioral Sciences hosted its second symposium of the academic year – “Racial Inequality in 21st Century America: Where do we go from Here?”  Distinguished economist–and new RBC […]

Although Chicago’s police drama has grabbed the headlines, Illinois’ disgraceful budget standoff continues. And more local service providers are shrinking or closing their doors. Lutheran Social Services recently announced the closure of key programs. This Friday, an article appeared in Capitolfax.com, an authoritative media source on state budget politics, under the cheery headline: “Another hostage […]

Me talking Single Payer issues on C-Span, basically riffing from my VOX article here. That piece got a bit more attention than I expected, in part given the different approaches to health policy presented by Hillary Clinton and Bernie Sanders. ICYMI: @haroldpollack @UChicagoSSA on @SenSanders #singlepayer healthcare proposal https://t.co/JYFL2uKvNW pic.twitter.com/nEad7kOX5B — Washington Journal (@cspanwj) January […]

N;

Glenn Loury and I two years ago discussing what might have happened had Dr. King survived. I don’t believe there would be an MLK holiday. He would have remained too a polarizing figure, as he surely would have gone on to do more difficult, controversial, and worthy things. MLK Day always makes me remember fondly […]

A post that has nothing to do with index cards…. Rebecca Feinstein and I interviewed 39 family caregivers of adults living with intellectual disabilities arising from fragile X syndrome. I presented some of our results at the annual meeting of the McLean Center for Clinical Medical Ethics here at the University of Chicago. The sound […]