A lot of people have benefited from the cryptocurrency investment. But Shiller would still like to see it as a psychology experiment. It is more psychological than something that could be explained by the computer science department, He said.
Bolded: it sounds like Robert Shiller is claiming blockchain has no real world application in computer science, security, finance or otherwise legitimate software engineering fields. Almost as if Shiller doesn't realize shipping firms and many others are utilizing blockchain technology in ledgers and banks are being forced to rollout faster transactions with lower fees to better compete with bitcoin, after decades of industry wide stagnation. Perhaps this serves as a real world example why armchair economists should not comment on things they do not understand or have experience with.
It also sounds like Shiller is claiming neither bitcoin nor crypto currencies have anything of value to offer the world. As an economist he should appreciate the thought experiment bitcoin and crypto currencies offer in terms of
decentralization,
deflation,
limited supply,
algorithmically limited production of assets and other interesting and thought provoking discussions which bitcoin brings to the table.
Lastly, Shiller should appreciate the high growth of bitcoin/crypto users worldwide. Robinhood trading platform gained near to 1 million new sign ups after announcing crypto currency support.
Bitcoin could offer a safe haven for consumer wealth in the event of a worst case scenario where the dollar or euro default. They also offer financial services to many poor demographics who could not afford a bank account or platform which allows them to electronically execute transactions or transfer money.
Shiller sound more like a youtuber who attacked bitcoin only because they were paid to than he does someone speaking as an objective and independent economist here. The same might be said of Paul Krugman and many other economists who have commented on bitcoin.