Anti-Semitism and the Jewish Question in the History of Economic Thought: An Introductory Note

To what extent have the history of anti-Semitism and, more generally, the Jewish question, overlapped that of political economy? This is an extremely controversial question which puts the historiography of economic thought in an extremely embarrassing situation. There are few studies which focus on the relationship between economics and anti-Semitism, some of which have fuelled controversy which questioned the legitimacy of raising the question of the supposed anti-Semitism of some of the twentieth century’s most influential economists. The essay by Reder (2000), in which he expressly posed the question of the probable anti-Semitism of three charismatic economists such as John Maynard Keynes, Joseph Schumpeter and Friedrick Hayek, caused quite a stir and provoked widespread disapproval. The community of scholars of Hayek felt most affronted, and sought to prosecute History of Political Economy for having allowed the piece to be published.¹ Ronald Hamowy, in his reply, used strong words against Reder: ‘Professor Reder’s comments on Hayek are an insult both to Hayek and to those many Jews, like myself, who worked closely with and under him and should be dismissed as the somewhat jaundiced views of a writer intent on finding malevolence where none exists’ (Hamowy, 2002, p. 260; see also the reply of Reder, 2002).