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Tyler Cowen and Alex Tabarrok, the economists behind influential economics blog Marginal Revolution, suggested on their podcast that Ethereum co-founder Vitalik Buterin deserves the 2024 Nobel Prize for economics. They praised Buterin for his contributions to monetary economics, including the creation of a new currency and platform, as well as his continued innovation with Ethereum. Tabarrok also lauded Buterin’s role as a spokesperson for the crypto community, but pointed out his work in bitcoin has been secondary only to the anonymous Bitcoin creator Satoshi Nakamoto. The Nobel Prize for Economics is set to be announced on October 14.

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Tyler Cowen and Alex Tabarrok, the brains behind Marginal Revolution, recently made their guesses as to who would snag the 2024 Nobel Prize for economics on their podcast.

In a curveball move, Cowen said he’d root for Ethereum co-founder and computer whiz Vitalik Buterin. While shooting the breeze about the value of theory in economics, the two agreed that Buterin deserves a shout because “he actually did something in monetary economics.”

Cowen put it out there: “Vitalik built a platform, created a currency, you could say, shut down Mises’ regression theorem in the process, obviously keeping up with Satoshi, but my goodness, what does someone have to do to get a Nobel Prize?”

Tabarrok was quick to agree, pointing out that “Not only that, but Vitalik has continued to crank out great ideas for Ethereum by going to proof-of-stake.” He compared Ethereum’s evolution from proof-of-work to proof-of-stake to “those crazy videos of guys in Saudi Arabia swapping the car tires while the car is still going.” “That’s Ethereum in a nutshell,” he added.

Buterin’s likable and smart persona was also mentioned, positioning him as a good emissary for the crypto crowd. However, Tabarrok made it clear that Buterin’s bitcoin brainwaves were second only to the unnamed mastermind behind Bitcoin. “Sure, Satoshi should have gotten it as well, but I’m betting he’s no longer with us,” he said. Cowen playfully fired back, “I wouldn’t jump to conclusions.”

An HBO documentary recently suggested that Bitcoin creator Satoshi Nakamoto is actually computer scientist Peter Todd. But, the crypto world is far from convinced, and Todd himself called the filmmaker’s claim bogus.

The Nobel Prize for Economics will be announced on Oct. 14. So, let’s see how it goes!

Source: Cointelegraph