Why is there such great affinity for GMU economists among the rationality community?

I’m largely referring to folks like Tyler Cowan, Bryan Kaplan, Robin Hansen — and to a lesser extent, guys like Noah Smith and Alex Tabarrok.

I find most of their insights on economic issues to be pretty uninteresting, things that you find in standard run of the mill economic theory (tariff is bad, globalization is good, comparative advantage, etc.)

I find most of their insights on social issues to be somewhere between extremely predictable to grossly uninformed. A couple of recent examples that come to mind is Cowan‘s somewhat baffling stance on TikTok for teenagers, and Caplan’s attempt to dissect OkCupid data — never mind his opinions on addictions/mental illnesses as mere preferences.

And yet when I talk to other people in the rationalist sphere they seem to have affinity for these sorts of thinkers. I’m curious as to why. Are there certain posts/links/articles that anyone here would share as an example for why such affinity is justified?