Yesterday, I wondered how many of the three winners of the Nobel prize in economics were Jewish.
The Royal Swedish Academy of Sciences awarded the Nobel Memorial Prize in Economic Science to Leonid Hurwicz, 90 years old, a retired professor at the University of Minnesota, who told reporters he thought his chances at the honor had faded; Eric S. Maskin, 56, of the Institute for Advanced Study in Princeton, N.J.; and Roger B. Myerson, 56, of the University of Chicago.
The answer: All of them. I’m not quite sure why Wikipedia finds it important to point out in the first sentence of a biography whether you were “born to a Jewish family.” (I have yet to find a reference to someone being “born to a Christian family” or “born to a Muslim family,” but hey, perhaps it’s not nearly as important to know if someone was a Christian or a Muslim than it is to know they are Jewish.) Digressions aside, all three of our boys are Jews. In fact, they’re all three American Jews.
That makes 155 Jewish Nobel prize winners in total, most of them American Jews. And of the ones who were born in other countries, well, a large percentage of them wound up here, too. Europe has been giving itself a lobotomy, as they say, for many, many years.
Hurwicz was born in 1917 to a Jewish family from Poland, World War I refugees from the Congress Kingdom displaced to Moscow, a few months before the October Revolution. Shortly thereafter, the family returned to Warsaw. In 1938 he received his LL.M. degree from Warsaw University. In 1939 he studied at the London School of Economics, then went to Geneva and studied at the Graduate Institute of International Studies.[5] After World War II began, he was forced to move to Portugal, and finally in 1940 to the United States.[6] He continued his studies at Harvard University and the University of Chicago.[7] His parents and brother fled Warsaw, only to be arrested and sent to Soviet labor camps.
People talk about the brain drain of various nations’ top scientists and doctors coming to the U.S. because here’s where the action is. But let’s not forget the incredible addition of talent America has received due to the persecution of European Jewry for the last few centuries. The waves of Jewish immigrants from Europe brought America a lot more than the Hollywood studio system. It brought us top scientists, thinkers, doctors, technologists, and authors.
This is what I like to call an in-your-face moment for the David Dukes of the world. The convicted felon, whose only contribution to the world is the spread of hatred and bigotry, goes to Iran to be feted by his fellow bigots at the Holocaust denial conference, while back in America, the Jews that Duke hates so much are working hard at their respective crafts, and being recognized by the rest of the world for the valuable contributions they make. The fact that envy makes up a great part of the world’s Jew-hatred simply cannot be denied.
But there’s one country that has never expelled her Jews. And while there has been (and continues to be) anti-Semitism in America, there have never been pogroms, and Jews are safer, more protected, and more a part of society in America than they have ever been in Europe.
So let’s hear it for America, the nation where Jews have carved out one of our greatest successes since Biblical times. Let’s celebrate the nation of true diversity, not the faux diversity that is the European Union.
And while we’re on the subject of America: Two more Americans won the Nobel prize in medicine. Add five more Americans to the tally, one who was born in Italy, and the other in Great Britain. Our nation of immigrants just keeps on truckin’.
Welcome, Instapundit readers. An update to the post: There’s one in every crowd, of course, and when it comes to Jews, far more than one. From a comment that was not approved:
Maybe Jews are just better at self promotion
Hype , hype ,hype hype,, It’s the Jews creed
Say, thanks for illustrating my point about envy, anonymous schmuck. And may I point out to you that hype doesn’t get you a Nobel prize for economics.
God blesses those who bless the Jews. Amazing historical record of that prophecy.
Interesting. What does it mean?
An interesting take on the 1930’s brain drain. One of my friends in college’s grandfather was a German scientist who emigrated to the US in 1930’s and ended up working on the Manhattan Project. Since my friend was not Jewish I asked him why his grandfather came. My friend told me that his grandfather left because he was disgusted that all his Jewish colleagues had either fled or been arrested.
Go back to bed, Jim.
It means that the anti-semites are right. If people didn’t hassle the Jews, they would take over the world.
/sarcasm
Hey American Jews … thank you for being here.
We would be so much less without you.
And don’t forget U. Chicago.
My alma mater. Go Maroons.
To Half Canadian:
It means that God gave the Jews brains, and the Arabs oil and the rest are Canadians.
The sad point for Europe is that as they lose these very few, they are skimming off the very top of the bell curve. America becomes almost imperceptibly smarter, and Europe dumber by the same amount. But these are the people, long term, that really make things happen. The creative element in the society.
REAL Nobels – Awesome! Go Jews (and/or those from Jewish Families)! Go U of C! Go America!
Half canadian I almost laughed out loud and squirted milk out my nose! Warn me next time of that sarcasm!
Another great example of this is the Manhatten Project. It’s amazing how many of the (most important) scientists on the project were European Jews who had fled Nazi persecution. Einstein, Szilard, Wigner, Teller, Fermi (actually his wife was Jewish), Bethe, Frisch, Bloch, etc. It’s really staggering to think that if not for the anti-semitism, Hitler may have been the first to develop the atomic bomb.
Can’t argue with the numbers here:
http://www.masada2000.org/nobel.html
I would like to add that India has never expelled or persecuted Jews (Ref Wikipedia)
K Sridhar: You’re right, and India is one of the nations that was a haven for Jews.
Until Muslims came along. To your country’s credit, Indian non-Muslims have protected India’s Jews from Muslim persecution over the years.
China, too, has been good to its Jewish population. But neither country has ever had the number of Jews that America has. It’s the nation of immigrants thing.
To me (a Christian), anti-Semitism is a sin. But even if we leave that aside, it’s sheer stupidity!
Go Jews! (My religion/ethnicity)
Go University of Utah and University of North Carolina! (My alma maters–each of whom had a Nobel prize winner this year)
On being born into a Jewish family: that’s an ethnic phenomenon as well as a religious one, unlike the hypothetical counter-examples. Which may or may not be all there is to the tendency to cite it, but it’s at least worth considering. No?
I don’t know about earlier history, but Denmark under Nazi occupation did all it could to impede Nazi persecution of the Jews, ultimately assisting Danish Jews (and foreign Jews hiding in Denmark) to escape to neutral, safe Sweden when the Nazis ordered them rounded up.
Curiously enough, the rescue was made possible by information leaked by a decent German officer, who risked losing his head over that, but instead survived to be honored by three nations (Germany, Denmark… and Israel) after the war.
There’s one man who made a difference.
Several have mentioned the US’s great haul of refugee physicists. Some of the Nazis referred to nuclear physics as “Jewish” physics. Maybe they were on to something!
The one real Nobel-level physicist left to the Germans was Werner Heisenberg. (Even if you are not a scientist, you’ve probably heard of the Heisenberg Uncertainty Principle. That Heisenberg). He has since become a disputed figure. Definitely no Nazi, he led nuclear research down a blind alley for the duration of the war. Was his mistaken, or was he deliberately misleading his colleagues? Heisenberg himself never said.
Finally, just to jam a third subject into this comment: Afghanistan, of all places, tolerated Jews until the Taliban (1996). Two Jewish men survived the TB and were living in Kabul in 2002… they were both quite elderly, and were not on speaking terms over some dispute. (If I were Jewish I’d almost have to make a wisecrack here, but I’m not so I won’t).
“And may I point out to you that hype doesn’t get you a Nobel prize for economics.”
Only for peace, evidently.
Anti-Semitism seems to have flowered recently on the left in this country and I don’t know why.
Every time I see an example of this, I remember the phrase, “first they came for the Jews” and I wonder where this will all lead.
“the faux diversity that is the European Union”
Why do you feel the need to attack others to inflate your own sense of greatness? The EU is much more diverse than the US can ever hope to be, and it doesn’t go around the world killing thousands of people in its search for prosperity. Muslims are the new jews, didn’t you know? And Guantanamo Bay is the new Auschwitz.
I hope this comment is “civil” enough; I’m really not trying to be an ass here.
America brings the best out of their immigrants. As a Jew, I am very grateful to call it home.
I think that you will see the emergence of Indian and Chinese immigrants in areas of patents and other intellectual acheivements.
Ba’al Zevuv: Yeah, that famous diversity is the reason why African “youths” are torching cars in France and Belgium, why Muslims are unassimilated throughout most of Europe, living in enclaves of Muslims and demanding sharia law for themselves instead of going by the law of the EU.
As for your comparison of Guantanamo to Auschwitz: Shyeah. The gas chambers are being built as we speak. It’s just like Auschwitz. Except for the fact that it’s, gee, the opposite of Auschwitz. It’s a detention center for people who fought a war against the United States. Name me the crimes of the Jews sent to Auschwitz, please. Show me the Guantanamo gas chambers and ovens.
Please. What a load of garbage. You really need to come up with something better than that. I don’t even have to work up a cite to answer your ridiculous statements.
While you’re busy patting yourself on the back for Jewish contribution to the USA don’t forget to take credit for Julius and Ethel Rosenberg!
“Anti-Semitism seems to have flowered recently on the left in this country and I don’t know why”…it has been driven in part by the romanticization of Palestinian terrorism and in part by the hatred of the modern left for technology and economic development. Israel is despised by these people not *in spite of* the fact that it is an advanced democratic country, but *because* of those factors.
Modern American anti-Semitism is largely a product of the university, amplified by the institutions that surround it. Those who are outside the academic force field (rural evangelicals, for example) are largely exempt from this influence.
Yes, indeed, Meryl, the parallels between Auschwitz and Gitmo are evident…of course, Gitmo residents seem to gain weight and Auschwitz residents, during the brief time they spent there, didn’t. And Gitmo residents get high quality medical care whereas Auschwitz residents didn’t get any medical care. And…actually, I guess it would take a remarkably obtuse or twisted mind to compare the two.
But as a Jew, Meryl, I object to your ethnocentrism. In fairness you should show your readers the Arab Nobel Prize winners and the scientific innovations from Arab countries that improve life for everyone.
By the way, it never stops anybody, but history’s verdict seems to be clear that getting rid of a country’s Jews does not lead to a better country, unless one’s definition of “better country” is “no Jews.”
Is it possible that as the Jews flowed into Europe after the expulsion from Palestine and they were prohibited from owning property, banished from the trades, and not allowed to establish businesses, they had to survive by using their wits, so to speak. As a result, could centuries of survival by intellectual activity resulted in a genetically modified group with higher intelligence capacity than their counterparts who were able to survive by less artful means? This is not written to demean Jews, its just an idea.
Wood-Yi: You’re absolutely right. Julius and Ethel Rosenberg completely discount all of the advances in science, technology, medicine, and the arts made by American Jews. Forget about the polio vaccine. Forget about the advances in technology. Discount all those hundreds of Jewish Nobel prize winners.
Because Ethel and Julius Rosenberg make all those achievements go away.
William, that theory has been bandied about by more than a few people. I’m on the fence about it.
“Because Ethel and Julius Rosenberg make all those achievements go away.”
The mischief they wreaked still could, in the form of a mushroom cloud over Tel Aviv. Jews have made astonishing contributions to the human race, but they have also been their own worst, and most dangerous, enemies, as far back as the Exodus itself.
So the Jews want to take over the world, eh? At last, someone who wants to do it by being more productive, intelligent, motivated and peace-loving than all the rest. Best of luck guys!
” hope this comment is “civil†enough; I’m really not trying to be an ass here.”
Ba’al, apparently its not something you have to work at.
I am Christian and believe in the covenant God made with the Jewish people. He uses his prole to demonstrate that keeping faith in God is righteous. He puts them through trials and tribulation only to provide them with the “riches” of the world. It is to show non-believers that following God is right.
Jews make up such a small percentage of the poulation but yet have such tremendous contributions. And they are the most oppressed group of people throughout the history of time. But they always rise to the top after being kicked down. Why?
If there is one lesson of history it is that those societies which choose to become enemies of the Jews imperil their own welfare. Perhaps the biblical verse, I will bless those who bless you and curse those who curse you, is more than just flowery language.
While it’s true that the Dutch, Indians and Chinese were tolerant of Jews, the reality is that the United States was the first country to treat Jews as legal equals, citizens with full rights and responsibilities.
George Washington’s famous statement, “to bigotry no sanction, to persecution no assistance”, was in fact a quote from the letter inviting him to the Touro Synagogue during his visit to Newport. Colonial Jews recognized that America was a different place from any other that had hosted Jews.
From Moses Seixas’ letter inviting President Washington
Alex Bensky makes a strong point about scientific and technical discoveries and innovations in the Arab world.
Japan leads the world in patents per million people. Israel is #20 on the list, just behind Australia and just ahead of Belgium, with 74 patents granted per million residents. Morocco is the only Arab county to crack the top 60, at #49, with 3 patents granted per million. There are some other Muslim countries in the top 60 countries, but none of them are ethnically Arab: #26, Kazakhstan @ 55 per million people, #36 Uzbekistan @ 25 per million people, #41 Kyrgyzstan @ 14 per million people, #43 Turkmenistan @ 10 per million people, #51 Tajikistan @ 2 per million people, and #56 Iran @ 1 per million people.
The Rosenbergs were guilty as hell, but they didn’t make it possible for the Russians to develop the atomic bomb. Their espionage sped up the process, perhaps by 3-5 yrs, but the Soviets had an active development program going and would have been able to develop atomic weapons even without the Rosenberg’s treason.
Jews are blamed for being communists and for being capitalists. As Aesop said, any excuse will serve a tyrant.
#31 — Tatterdemalian
Interesting theory. Based on what evidence, exactly? We now know that the Rosenbergs’ conviction was obtained through perjured testimony by Ethel Rosenberg’s brother, who was trying to save his own skin. We also have pretty good evidence that the information the Rosenbergs passed to Moscow, such as it was, was considered mostly worthless, except by Nikita Khrushchev, apparently. If there’s ever, God forbid, a mushroom cloud over Tel Aviv, you can rest assured that the Rosenbergs will have had nothing to do with it.
All of this is beside the point, of course, which is the volume of overall positive contributions the Jewish people have managed to make to the world despite our small numbers and our many failings.
Re: Jewish intellect
I suspect that it goes back to the export of the (few thousand) elites of Jerusalem to Babylon. These people became the genetic core of Judaism, and their descendants were the ones that rebuilt Jerusalem’s walls.
Furthermore, mandating literacy as a rite of passage to adulthood can’t hurt.
#35 Bozoer Rebbe,
France, apparently, was the first country that considered Jews equal – in 1796. Napoleon even encouraged immigration of Jews from other European countries to his France. Compare with New Hampshire’s 1871.
I’d love to accept the theory that we’re smarter as a group, but I know too many Jews to find the argument persuasive. For that matter, Israel’s political system shows that if, arguendo, there is a “Jewish genius” it doesn’t extend to politics.
Now, us Litvakers…
For those that might have missed it – intersting article by Charles Murray (of The Bell Curve fame) about Jewish Genius:
http://www.commentarymagazine.com/viewarticle.cfm?id=10855
Soryy Meryl, you are incorrect. Hype WILL win you a Nobel Peace Prize. Funny how it isn’t the Jews (other than Shimon Peres) who are walking off with those things.
“Their espionage sped up the process, perhaps by 3-5 yrs, but the Soviets had an active development program going and would have been able to develop atomic weapons even without the Rosenberg’s treason.”
3 – 5 years could have been all that was needed to expose Uncle Joe’s government for the pit of horrors it was. Those years came at the height of the Korean War, and a decisive victory there would have left no North Korea to ship weapons to Syria and Iran.
“We now know that the Rosenbergs’ conviction was obtained through perjured testimony by Ethel Rosenberg’s brother, who was trying to save his own skin.”
Know? Only if you accept Wikipedia as the absolute arbiter of truth. I do not.
At the BEGINNING of the Korean War. Argh.
Alex Bensky,
I have a couple of comments re’Jews being “smarter as a group”.First,Murray and Herrnsteins work adresses this pretty well.Jews tend to test with a higher average IQ than any other group.
Secondly,there’s a 22 fold over representation among Nobel Laureates for Jews.Speaking as a Gentile and an aetheist,I find this pretty convincing.
And I agree with the comment about anti Semitism being rampant in academia.I don’t have a clue as to why it’s happened.
Now,an alternative question ,but one that is related .There’s been a lot of turmoil re’ whether the US should recognize the Armenian genocide during WWI.I don’t feel it as helpful to the US,and wouldn’t do so.Also,the time to act was 90 tears ago,when we might have been able to save some of those poor people.Still,I realize my feelings about recognizing a Genocide are pragmatic,and people who have ancestors /family/friends who perished in the second world war genocide may have a different perspective.So,I’d like to hear thoughts from people.
And Meryl,a small kudos for “the Jews”.
One of the few American heroes during this time was our ambassador to Turkey,a Mr. Henry Morgenthau.
#44 – Tatt:
Wikipedia? You are kidding, right? There have been several books written about David Greenglass’s belated confession. Here’s one — but if you bother to work past the first Google hit you come to you’ll be able to find dozens of sources other than Wikipedia.
So, yes, “know” would be the right word. Unless Greenglass lied about lying. Highly unlikely.
“And while there has been (and continues to be) anti-Semitism in America, there have never been pogroms”
Crown Heights.
You know, someone always does that when I say there’s never been an American pogrom.
I would put Crown Heights under the heading of anti-Semitic attacks. I also think Al Sharpton should have been charged for accessory to murder, but that’s a different story.
I think we can say with certainty, though, that neither the American government nor the government of its states, counties, cities, towns, and villages have ever organized massacres against the Jews of America. You cannot say the same for many European nations.
” Unless Greenglass lied about lying. Highly unlikely.”
Why is it so unlikely? If you think the man lied before a jury, and maintained that lie until the statute of limitations on perjury ran out, what makes you think he won’t lie to sell books?
Plus, VONORA corroborated Ethel’s involvement. You’re mad if you think the feds relied solely on Greenglass’s testimony for a death penalty case.
All this, of course, is nothing more than desperate searching for some hole in what was an airtight case against the Rosenbergs. Sort of the Communist version of JFK conspiracy theories.