Nobel Memorial Prize in Economic Sciences awarded for New Insights on the Differences in Prosperity between Nations

This post was originally published on Astrology News Service

Sue Kientz

The 2024 Sveriges Riksbank Prize in Economic Sciences in Memory of Alfred Nobel has been awarded “for studies of how institutions are formed and affect prosperity”(1) to three university professors and authors whose work is deeply focused on comparing the successes of different types of governments and theorizing on what works best for the most people.

Economic Sciences Nobel Winners

Three Economics laureates will split the Riksbank Prize, which has the same monetary value as the other Nobel prizes. Here we analyze only two of the prize winners, as the birthdate of the third, James A. Robinson, is not available.

Daron Acemoglu (born September 3, 1967)(2), has a long history of success in academia, producing studies and books on the topic for which he is now honored, many of which he collaborated on with his fellow 2024 laureates. As early as his doctoral studies, completed at age 25, he was considered remarkable.(3) Acemoglu’s unique talents are definitely on display celestially, with Sun (10 Virgo) conjunct Mercury (18 Virgo) and dwarf planet Haumea (6 Virgo), indicator of creative gifts, ability to heal or repair, even tackling world problems. The Sun is also semisquare (45 degrees) dwarf planets Quaoar (26 Libra), engendering keen interest in exploring and speculating, and Varda (27 Libra), ability to visualize implications of human behavior or discern pattern in data. His Mercury, symbolizing his thinking and expressive ability, is conjunct Pluto (20 Virgo), indicating powerful mental acuity, and Uranus (23 Virgo), facility with technical and other complex concepts. Mercury is also sextile dwarf planets Orcus (17 Cancer), talent in categorizing, establishing order, and striving for perfection, and not-yet-named 2002 MS4 (17 Scorpio), love of learning, books, and research. Taken altogether, Acemoglu is indeed extraordinarily gifted.(4) Add to that, his Venus Rx(5) (3 Virgo) conjunct Haumea is trine dwarf planet Sedna (0 Taurus), giving him a resolute moral compass as well as desire to make a lasting impact on society (both Venus). His Mars (25 Scorpio) is sextile Uranus (23 Virgo), giving him additional intellectual aptitude.

What then heralds this pinnacle moment when we compare Acemoglu to the celestial indicators of the Nobel ceremony? Once again, transiting Jupiter (15 Gemini) makes an appearance, here square Acemoglu’s Sun, illustrative of the lavish, regal event (Jupiter) where he and his colleagues receive the world’s highest award (Jupiter) for intellectual achievement. Transiting Quaoar (9 Capricorn) is trine his Sun which, due to Quaoar’s slow movement, comes once in a lifetime and nods to his similar birth configuration denoting investigative skills, the repetition of which is like a musical theme reappearing at the climax of a symphony. Two other birth themes significantly resurface on this special day – transiting Orcus (17 Virgo) conjoins and 2002 MS4 (17 Capricorn) trines Acemoglu’s Mercury,(6) underlining their contribution to this crowning success.  And if you recall Acemoglu’s Venus-Haumea conjunction, at ceremony time Haumea (2 Scorpio) is sextile his Venus, a certain sign that the value of the Nobel (monetarily and in prestige) will transform his life, finances, and what more he is able to accomplish. Even Uranus, sextile at his birth, now forms an opposition to Acemoglu’s Mars at this stellar career juncture. As was said earlier, he’s remarkable!

Simon Johnson (born January 16, 1963)(7), recently partnered with Acemoglu to write Power and Progress (2023), which was very well received, leading to Nobel rumors back then. But Johnson and Acemoglu, as well as fellow prize-winner Robinson, have worked together for years, collaborating on a number of publications. Johnson, with Sun (25 Capricorn) square dwarf planet Sedna (27 Aries), is a determined and patient type, able to stick to a project through any setback, making him a valuable collaborator. Sun is also sesquiquadrate (135 degrees) Pluto (11 Virgo), a figure that provides experience power-sharing and managing expectations. Mercury Rx(5) (4 Aquarius) is conjunct Saturn (11 Aquarius), giving him a down-to-earth perspective, but opposite them is dwarf planet Makemake (5 Leo), which might be the creative lightning strikes (Makemake) he fields from others (opposition) that he’s able to sublimate or translate into a more workable final product. Johnson’s Venus (8 Sagittarius) is dynamically surrounded by squares from Pluto (11 Virgo), Uranus (4 Virgo) and Haumea (3 Virgo) on one side, and Jupiter (11 Pisces) on the other, with Venus supported by a trine from Makemake. The things he values (Venus) and enjoys working at (many squares involved) are numerous and challenging, and with Jupiter, he manages to make them successful. As additional evidence of his resolute and persistent nature, Johnson’s Mars is trine Sedna.

When new laureate Johnson took his place next to his writing collaborators on the Nobel stage on December 10^th, transiting Uranus (24 Taurus), planet of reason, genius, and technology, was trine his Sun, a perfect representation of the high acclaim he was duly receiving. At the same time, Uranus was square his Mars, a possible sensory overload to all the excitement. But most unique of all, transiting Venus (4 Aquarius) was exactly conjunct his Mercury Rx, and transiting Mercury Rx (8 Sagittarius) was exactly conjoined his Venus! While there’s nothing particularly special about Mercury reaching the same degree as one’s Venus and vice versa (this happens every year), the fact that both are exactly conjunct the other’s natal positions at the very same time is eye-opening, and the additional fact that Mercury is retrograde for the occasion, just like at birth, makes this even more surprising, perhaps even a once-in-a-lifetime event – just like receiving a Nobel prize!

Hopefully you found it illuminating and gratifying to view each Nobel Laureate of the 2024 Nobel Awards (for which we had birth data) and see that astrology can give us a window into what it looks (and feels) like to win a Nobel Prize. It’s the dream of a lifetime.

Previously released ANS articles on the 2024 Nobel Prizes winners

Title Image credit: Background: By Photograph, Jonathunder Medal: Erik Lindberg (1873-1966) – Derivative of File:NobelPrize.JPG, PD-US, https://en.wikipedia.org/w/index.php?curid=58432969.

Image text by the author.

Notes and References

1. The Nobel Prize official website, https://www.nobelprize.org/prizes/economic-sciences/
2. Acemoglu, Daron, 3 September 1967, Istanbul, Turkey, 7 a.m. EET used, https://www.nobelprize.org/prizes/economic-sciences/2024/acemoglu/facts/
3. Kling, Arnold, “Acemoglu on Growth,” Library of Economics and Liberty, 3 October 2007,  https://archive.org/details/AcemogluOnGrowthEconlib
4. Substitute the Sun for Mercury, and you have the day that Los Angeles Dodgers Sandy Koufax pitched a perfect game (9 September 1965, 4:30 p.m., Los Angeles, CA PDT): Sun/Pluto (16 Virgo), Uranus (15 Virgo), sextile Orcus (15 Cancer) and 2002MS4 (15 Scorpio). In Acemoglu’s case, you could say his mind has been pitching the equivalent of a perfect game.
5. “Rx” is the abbreviation for retrograde, e.g., for when Venus (or Mercury) appears to move “backwards” as it circles in front of the sun from Earth’s perspective.
6. If you marvel that Orcus and 2002MS4 are still trine after 57 years, this happens with trans-Neptunian bodies, whether small or dwarf-planet size. They have eccentric (oblong) orbits, and sometimes one body can be in the slow part of its orbit, while another is moving faster in its orbit, and so they pace each other and maintain a long-term trine, conjunction, semisquare, opposition, or any angle possible.
7. Johnson, Simon, 16 January 1963, Sheffield, UK, 7 a.m. UT used, https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Simon_Johnson_(economist)