I think this is a very deep question. There are three prize's that Wikipedia could merit; Nobel Peace prize, Nobel price in Literature, and the Economics Prize

I think this is a very deep question. There are three prize's that Wikipedia could merit; Nobel Peace prize, Nobel price in Literature, and the Economics Prize. The Peace prize is one of the easier arguments. The beneficial affect on the lives of everyone, and the egalitarian nature of editorial review is clear. The Literature prize could be awarded for creating one of the most important literary works in history. The prize itself was to be awarded to the "person who shall have produced in the field of literature the most outstanding work in an ideal direction." The committee has almost always given this as a lifetime achievement award in fiction and poetry, but there have been notable exceptions. Both Winston Churchill and Theodor Mommsem were awarded for their historical works. The artistic community which controls the prize is perhaps too elitist to award the egalitarian work of Wikipedia. The Economics prize is the most interesting. I do not know of any precedent for non-theoretical work. But the value of Wikipeida to the economics field is in creating an entirely open, non-monetary market. This should be a great tool for economics, and is ripe for discovery.