When unhappy with the current consensus of economists, people may dismiss it as merely a reflection of economists’ ideological biases. These biases are irrefutably common amongst economists, from Adam Smith to Karl Marx. However, in J.A. Schumpeter’s massive History of Economic Analysis, he concludes that these biases had little effect on economists’ analytical work because they often separate them from their ideological stances. Even Marx elaborated scientific analyses that were neutral, or sometimes disconfirmatory, of his vision. Advocacy doesn’t necessitate lying, and given the rules of procedure, the field can discard ideologically conditioned error. Though the biases undoubtedly slow progress, progress would likely be non-existent without them - they provide the impetus for the necessary factual and analytical work.