It's not a compliment to Jewish business acumen.
The sentiment behind the stereotype that Jews are good at making money is that they are accused of doing so at by cheating non-Jews and controlling the economy.
It's why millions of non-Jews had not problem putting Jews into box cars and shipping them off to the camps.
I spoke to a Jewish businessman before and he taught me a few things about money acquisition and attributed it to Jewish financial philosophy. He didnt use the word "cheating" but he did point to controlling their economy via collective cooperation between other Jewish people.
I seriously doubt that he told you that Jews are a collective. We are the last people on Earth people would describe as collective. The old joke "Ten Jews, Twenty opinions" isn't far from the truth.
There is no Jewish "financial philosophy" any more than there is a xtian financial philosophy. Jews have historically been in mercantile and financial businesses because they were forbidden to do other kinds of work.
In the past, Jews were forbidden to join occupational guilds, own land outside of a Jewish enclave, or even live outside of strictly controlled ghettos. The word "Ghetto" didn't originate in America. It was the name of the area of Venice, Italy where for hundreds of years, Jews were required to live and work, and an area in which they were locked in after sundown.
Not exactly sure why you doubt it....
The Importance of the Community (Kehilla) in Judaism | My Jewish Learning
"
The collective is an integral part of the Jewish experience."
by
RABBI JILL JACOBS
The Collective is Alive | Jewish Federation of the Lehigh Valley
Non-Jews mean something wholly other when they speak of a Jewish collective.
One of the longest lasting anti-Semitic tropes is something called "The Protocols of the Elders of Zion".
In that book, written by agents of the Czarist state in 19th Century Russia, it describes how all Jews around the world are part of a global conspiracy to work together to control the world. They claim this 'Jewish Cabal' is led by secretive Jewish leaders, but all Jews, from Warsaw to Wichita are in on the plot to take over the world.
That is what Anti-Semities mean when they attribute Jewish success to the Jewish collective.
Cooperation between Jews in business, politics, or socially, is no different than between members of any ethnic community. But, as most small ethnic communities learn very quickly, you can't just sell each other things. A successful business must include people from outside the community as well.
