Is it possible, in the year 2010, to write about the extraordinary prominence of people of Jewish origin in the economy and finance (and indeed in virtually every field of human endeavour) without being accused of harbouring some sinister ulterior motive, of subscribing to some absurd conspiracy theory? I hope so, for I write solely out of genuine admiration for their sheer brilliance. Indeed, I often wish I had some Jewish blood in me myself. (Perhaps I do).
The fact is that the place occupied by Jews in the upper echelons of the economy is out of all proportion to their weight in the American population as a whole, which is about 2% I think. If this prominence can be attributed solely to historical reasons, then so be it. But, here in the 21st century I'm not really convinced by that argument. Is there not something in their genes that gives them a head start in brilliance?
Let me be clear: I am not talking about the moral worth of individual Jews. That is an uninteresting question and doesn't prove anything: for every Bernanke there is a Madoff, just as for every Al Capone there is a Padre Pio.
I can see why this is an explosive issue for the possibilities for envy and hate are enormous, and the track record of anti-Semitism is truly horrendous. But are we therefore to say that this is a taboo subject which cannot be addressed seriously for fear of being labelled a racist? Quite the contrary surely.
I suppose we'll have to wait a little longer before we can be sure, but Jews, in America at any rate, have not had to contend with much anti-semitic sentiment for some time now. If the "historical reasons" were the key you would have expected their predominance to have started to decline by now
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