Life as a Hexagonal Economist

I would reluctantly describe myself as an economist, but if pushed to do so, not least because I am part of a university Economics department, I would describe myself as a heterodox one. One of my non-economist colleagues jokingly refers to us as hexagonal economists and I like the sound of that better. I won’t bore you with the technical details, but heterodox economists are those who identify themselves as opposed to the hegemony and inflexibility of mainstream economics.

I recently attended a workshop on research methods in heterodox economics, and the last session was on strategies for getting papers published. It turns out the publishing landscape is dismal for  anyone who is not in one of the top 10 U.S.-based economics departments, who couldn’t be more mainstream if they had blinders on. The situation is the most dismal for mainstream non-U.S. based economists who reside in low-ranking departments. Non-mainstream economists at least have the option of publishing in high-ranked journals outside economics. My economics department is not U.S.-based and doesn’t sit in a high-ranking university, so if I were mainstream or an economist, it would be a pretty bleak picture for me. Fortunately, I am neither and nor do I have any aspirations to become either.