In a new article in The Nation, journalist Christopher Hayes describes the outcast status of “heterodox” economists. It’s an interesting account, but he blunders in several ways. For example, he cites as evidence that there is a “mafia”-like mindset within the economics profession the fact that David Card and Alan Blinder faced criticism for their empirical work and their non-free-market policy views:

As Card's and Blinder's experiences show, the "mafia" still flexes its muscles …

Hayes fails to note that free-market economists -- even "mainstream" Chicagoites -- face equally harsh criticism for their policy views and for their empirical work.

Hayes characterizes the difference between mainstream and heterodox both in terms of policy views and in terms of methodology:

While the discipline remains dominated by a "neoclassical" consensus that is generally pro-market and suspicious of government intervention, an explosion of new research programs and methods have provided strong evidence that many of the pillars of that consensus rest on a foundation of sand. … In the case of heterodox economists, what they don't believe is the neoclassical model that anchors the economics profession.

It follows from his characterization that Austrian economists are “heterodox” in both senses, being more consistently pro-market and suspicious of government than the mainstream, and in dissenting from key assumptions of the neoclassical model. Austrians have published in the Review of Political Economy and other heterodox journals. And yet, Austrian economists are never mentioned. Hayes's heterodox hipster heros are all lefties.

In light of which, Hayes might have taken notice of the evidence compiled by Dan Klein showing that members of the economics profession are mostly to the left of center. (ADDENDUM: To be clearer, that should be "the median academic economist is to the left of the political center".)

ADDENDUM: Many economists, mostly heterodox, comment on Hayes' article at TPM Cafe. Hat tip: Tyler Cowen at Marginal Revolution.