Celia Gurevitch Jewish Community Library

I admit I do not know much about the inner working of macro-economics and financial markets. But the news from the last few days got even me worried. However being more interested in history and literature instead of studying the markets my reaction was different. I searched out a book titled, Economic history of the Jews, edited by Nachum Gross. Here is the beginning of the introduction that is a far better recommendation than what I could write.

This volume is in its own way a pioneer -an overall survey of the economic aspects of Jewish history and a consideration of major trends and developments within the most important spheres of economic activity. For many decades much has been said about examining the economic motivations and facts of Jewish life throughout the centuries and a number of specialized studies have appeared, but not enough has been achieved in the direction of an overall synthesis. One reason for this is the relative scarcity of mature scholars versed in history and economics and Jewish studies. The field remains largely unplowed and this book is a first attempt at opening it up both for laymen and for future scholars. It reflects the state of knowledge of the subject at the present time. The reader will find here the colorful story of the economic life of the Jews throughout the ages, the impact of internal and external factors and chapters describing how the Jews have played key roles in a great variety of occupations in all parts of the world. The potential specialists will find here many topics that have still not been adequately studied and will discover topics and directions for future research. The contents of this book will be an invaluable complement to the standard Jewish histories.