You are essentially claiming with your links that people who don't like hedge fund managers are really antisemites.

No, that is not my intention. I do think that the language and allegations that people use against 'banksters' are stunningly similar to charges anti-semites made against Jews, but I don't think that means that OWS are anti-semites. Rather, I was suggesting that OWS, anti-semitism, etc, all come from the same place, which is some primal dislike of so-called market dominant minorities.

This is especially irrelevant since no one was asking why you think hedge fund managers are as a group maligned.

??? I was specifically responding to your query about why I thought hedge fund managers are so unfairly maligned.

Regulatory capture is one of many ways that a market can produce a situation where this doesn't occur.

This is very true, but hedge funds are lightly regulated, so it doesn't make much sense as an explanation of high salaries for hedge fund managers. In fact, what I think is going on is that regulatory capture and cartelisation of the regular banking and investment markets by huge incumbent players makes it almost impossible for innovation and new entrants to occur. Consequently this activity occurs at the margins, in shadow banking and hedge funds, leading to very high returns for a few innovators, but also lots of risky activity.

Oh right! I forgot you were that person. Too bad you don't want to continue that. You left a number of sub-issues there hanging where I would have been interested in your responses.

I found our discussion interesting, but it was long, and I was repeatedly downvoted. I felt I was testing the patience of the community.

But hedge funds aren't by and large specifically involved with that any more than any other aspect of the economic system.

Capital allocation is vital, but you are right that hedge funds are just a small part of that. I certainly wasn't saying that hedge fund managers are the be-all and end-all. But pnrjulius was claiming that the only reason one could admire them is because one thinks that 'everyone who is rich automatically is a wonderful person.' So it seemed natural to contrast this highly productive, but widely maligned group with a highly praised but (IMO) largely parasitic one.