User:Slrubenstein/sandbox/Economic history of the Jews
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The association of Jews with money (including capitalism, wealth, business, profit, and banking) has been considered by a wide variety of authors, including Abraham Foxman in his book Jews and Money, Gerald Krefetz in his book Jews and Money, Werner Sombart in his book The Jews and Modern Capitalism, J. J. Goldberg in his book Jewish Power, Salo Wittmayer Baron and Arcadius Kahan in their book Economic history of the Jews, Werner Eugen Mosse in his book Jews in the German Economy, Jerry Muller in his book Capitalism and the Jews, Gideon Reuveni in his book The Economy in Jewish History, Derek Penslar in his book Shylock's children: economics and Jewish identity in modern Europe, Jacob Neusner in his book The Economics of the Mishnah, and Karl Marx in his On the Jewish Question.
These authors address topics such as the role of Jews in the rise of capitalism in Europe, the role that the religion of Judaism had in shaping attitudes towards money, the importance of moneylending as an occupation in the Middle Ages, the prevalence of Jews in the establishment of modern banking, cultural attitudes towards wealth, and money-related antisemitism.
The Jewish Bible contains several important passages that govern the charging of interest on loans, which have had enormous impact on the history of lending. The Talmud contains an extensive amount of guidance on financial and business matters.
During the middle ages, Jews were excluded from many occupations, and Christians views moneylending as an unethical profession, so Jews often gravitated towards moneylending as a profession. Throughout Europe, Jews filled the role of Court Jew for virtually every seat of nobility.
Jews played a major role in the rise of capitalism during the nineteenth century in Europe, and were primarily responsible for importing commercial concepts such as negotiable instruments from the Near East.
Modern banking in Europe and the United States was heavily influenced by Jewish financiers, such as the Rothschild family and Warburg family, and Jews were major contributors to the establishment of important investment banks on Wall Street.
Culturally, Jews have viewed wealth as an important tool to defend against persecution and antisemitism. Jews, proportionally, are represented much more heavily in professional occupations, and in occupations that require graduate degrees, such as law and medicine.
Antisemites have often promulgated myths related to money, such as the canard that Jews control the world finances, first promoted in the Protocols of the Elders of Zion, and later repeated by Henry Ford and his Dearborn Independent. In the modern era, many such myths continue to be widespread in the Islamic world, and in books such as The Secret Relationship Between Blacks and Jews published by the Nation of Islam, and on the internet.