The Anti-Semitism of Some Eminent Economists

It has been postulated that the anti-Semitism often manifested by John Maynard Keynes was typical of similar attitudes held by much of the "educated" class during the interwar years. This paper discusses the origin of these sentiments, the attitudes of Keynes & his colleagues, Joseph Schumpeter & Friedrich Hayek, & contrasts these attitudes with those of "educated people" in the second half of the twentieth century. The paper starts from the assumption that anti-Semitism was common among the "educated" classes during the interwar period; it then uses examples from Keynes, Schumpeter, & Hayek to illustrate this point. The paper also argues that the anti-Semitism of the "educated" class was ambivalent. This ambivalence experienced rapid modification, particularly within academia, around 1950. At this point, anti-Semitism in the US ceased to be acceptable within most social circles. 29 References. K. A. Larsen