Perfect example about where you're standing. I understand that's a negative Jewish stereotype set, but Jamaican Jews aren't stereotyped that way. The money people would be Chinese instead which makes me wonder...isn't it just possible she wanted a money-grubbing species?

Of course, once you come to the place where you ascribe hard and fast positive and negative personality traits to equivalently sentient creatures, tolerance of diversity can take a nose dive.

I saw the goblins more like D&D/Tolkienesque dwarves, or some other Germanic mythical creature. Your cultural template may vary.

The Goblins - especially their portrayal in the movies - pinged a lot of people as being very similar to classic Jewish stereotypes, particularly from Nazi propaganda. Not just the money grubbing, but the big ears and noses etc. Very similar to the complaints about the way the Ferengi were portrayed in the Trek universe.

It would be more obvious if you were familiar with that propaganda, but most of that imagery is unseen nowadays because it's seen as offensive.

Not just the money grubbing, but the big ears and noses etc.

I have no idea if goblins were used to parallel Jews beforehand, but aren't those all longtime attributes?

Of course, once you come to the place where you ascribe hard and fast positive and negative personality traits to equivalently sentient creatures, tolerance of diversity can take a nose dive.

Yeah I think that is the problem. You have a fictional species who really is, as a species or culture, money grubbing and (maybe-only hinted) out to take over the world. The stereotype actually is correct for them. That is going to be congruent with some ethnic stereotype in a lot places. And the thing is it was not neccesary for the plot. Why not just have Gringotts be a money grubbing hostile institution, rather than have its actions representative of an entire species? (The series is quite specific in several places that Goblins in general are like than, rather than just Gringotts.)

I have no idea if goblins were used to parallel Jews beforehand, but aren't those all longtime attributes?

Of Goblins? I do think there was some conflation of demonized images of Jews and demonic creatures. That is, people projected onto Jews a lot of debased, subhuman myths and that imagery was entwined in Western culture for a long time.

It also goes to the way Wagner portrays dwarves in his Ring Cycle, it's loaded with Jewish stereotypes.

Why not just have Gringotts be a money grubbing hostile institution, rather than have its actions representative of an entire species? (The series is quite specific in several places that Goblins in general are like than, rather than just Gringotts.)

The Goblins were among the other magical creatures in conflict with the Wizards for generations. That the Wizarding world isn't a fairy tale utopia is an important part of the books.

Yeah, but the wizards' flaws are not inherent. Why make a conflicting species whose flaws are?

All the non-human species have inherent flaws. Elves are obsequious, Centaurs are arrogant, werewolves are murderers.

The Goblins were among the other magical creatures in conflict with the Wizards for generations. That the Wizarding world isn't a fairy tale utopia is an important part of the books.

Yes, but the bank could've been run by a consortium of Goblins and Wizards etc. Whereas banking was exclusively the provenance of Jews for a long time because of Christian laws about usury. So by making the Goblins the bankers, and attributing to them key elements of the Jewish stereotype she's reinforcing the equation of Goblins = Jews.