Robert Shiller (Nobel Prize) bullish on Bitcoin?

On May 21, Robert Shiller, winner of the Nobel Prize for Economics in 2013, called cryptocurrencies "the latest iteration of alternative currency ideas" in an article entitled "The Old Allure of New Money." He took the opportunity to give us a chronological summary of the different currents of thought that emerged from the monetary sector over time. He also took the opportunity to give us half-words his opinion on cryptocurrencies.

Robert Shiller describes the different types of alternative currencies that have existed throughout history, stating that "new ideas for money seem to go hand in hand with the territory of the revolution, accompanied by a compelling and easy narrative to understand .

The Yale economist first refers to Josiah Warner's "working notes" from the Cincinnati Time Store in 1827, which sold goods in units of labor hours. He also mentioned Karl Marx and Friedrich Engels , who proposed that the communist condition that would lead to the abolition of private property would result in "the communist abolition of buying and selling" .

Moving closer to modern times, Shiller refers to the movement of the Great Depression called "Technocracy" , which proposed to replace the US dollar, then backed by gold, by a measure of energy. Their book "The ABC of Technocracy" proposed to found an economy on the basis of energy .

Reaching the contemporary period, Shiller writes that cryptocurrencies, like their predecessors, are coupled with "a deep desire for revolution in society . " He also asserts that the public's general misunderstanding of the functioning of cryptocurrencies creates for them a certain attraction:

"Virtually, no one, outside the computer science departments, can explain how cryptocurrency works, and this mystery creates an aura of exclusivity, gives glamor to the new currency and fills the devotees with revolutionary zeal."

Finally, Shiller recognizes that the decentralized nature of cryptocurrencies is a major asset for those who see governments as "the drivers of a long train of inequality and war . " He concludes, however, that "none of this is new and, as in the case of past monetary innovations, a compelling story may not be enough" .

Recall that Robert Shiller, Eugene Fama and Lars Peter Hansen were awarded the Nobel Prize in Economics in 2013 for "their empirical analysis of asset prices". Shiller developed the Case-Shiller Index with his colleague Karl Case, which is now used by Standard and Poor's Financial Services.

It is true that in recent weeks, crypts have been widely criticized publicly by giants of the world of technology and finance, such as Bill Gates or Warren Buffet . Charlie Munger , vice president of Berkshire Hathaway, has even gone so far as to compare the trade and sale of cryptocurrencies to the trafficking of "brains of freshly harvested babies" . Nevertheless, the 2013 Nobel Prize for economics, Robet Shiller, is enthusiastic about the future of cryptocurrencies and their democratization.